Jan 29, 2026 By Garrett Neese 2 min read

A Masontown woman is charged with an alleged assault that left bruises and fingernail marks on her 1-year-old child.

After taking a polygraph test, Arayiah Harris, 19, confessed to assaulting her child in her home, according to her criminal complaint. She told police her child had been crying throughout the night when she grabbed the baby, slammed them into the pack-and-play next to her bed, and then held them down with excessive force.

Court documents said the injuries had been reported as mandated by law by Hopwood Day Care. Harris was an employee at the time of the incident and had dropped off her child the next morning. Harris was removed that day, and no longer works at the day care, owner Jessica Barnhart said Wednesday.

Harris told police that no other person could have caused the injuries, the complaint said.

“She went on to tell the examiner that she was just tired at this time,” Masontown Police Chief Thomas Obarto wrote in the affidavit of probable cause.

A medical examination at WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital showed bruising, scratches and strangulation marks on the child’s neck and throat area, and bruising with hand and finger marks on the torso, the complaint said.

Harris initially told staff she had no idea what could have caused the bruises, police said, then later attributed them to a friend of hers who had been at the house that night.

In her final police interview, Harris said she did not notice the injuries when she took the child to day care the next morning because she had dressed the child in the dark, according to the complaint.

Harris is charged with endangering welfare of children, aggravated assault of a victim under 13, strangulation, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

No bond had been set as of Wednesday morning.