RATHDRUM, Idaho — A woman was arrested Wednesday on charges related to alleged abuse of an 11-year-old girl, according to the Rathdrum Police Department.
Melanie Dyk was arrested on a warrant and faces felony charges of injury to a child and aiding and abetting aggravated battery, along with a misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse, police said.
Rathdrum Police Chief Daniel Haley said a detective’s follow-up investigation led to the warrant.
Melanie Dyk is the wife of Aaron Dyk, 32, who was arrested in July on charges of attempted murder and felony injury to a child. Court documents cited in previous coverage identified the girl as his daughter.
According to those documents, Aaron Dyk admitted to hitting his daughter with a belt for “disciplinary reasons” and told officers he had gone overboard. The girl suffered bruising across her back and legs, and her injuries were causing her kidneys to fail.
Officers responded to reports that the girl was having a seizure nearly a week following the alleged beating. She was verbally unresponsive when they arrived, according to court documents.
Investigators asked the family why they had not taken the girl to the hospital as her condition worsened. Family members said they were worried Aaron Dyk would be arrested, the documents said.
The girl was initially taken to Kootenai Health before being transferred to Sacred Heart Medical Center in critical condition, police said in their original release. Wednesday’s update did not include new information about her condition.
Police said no additional information would be released at this time.
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