June 27, 2021
Sarah Safranek – Photo Oregon Police Department
OREGON, Ill. (AP) — A published report says child welfare investigators made nearly a dozen visits over two years to the home of a mother who’s been charged in the death of her 7-year-old son. Nathaniel Burton of Oregon was suffocated Feb. 17. An autopsy showed the child also suffered a ruptured liver. His mother Sarah Safranek has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated battery to a child. The 34-year-old was in Ogle County Jail on $2 million bond. She pleaded not guilty last month. The first home visit by investigators from the Department of Children and Family Services was in 2018.