Utah woman accused of putting Borax in her children’s water

Pat Reavy, KSL.com

ROOSEVELT, Utah (KSL.com) — A Uintah County woman investigators say was putting a household cleaner in her children’s water to help with weight loss has been arrested.

Barbara Susan Williford, 47, was charged on Monday in 8th District Court with aggravated child abuse, a third-degree felony; and surreptitious administration of a deleterious substance, a class A misdemeanor.

Prosecutors say since the beginning of the school year in August and up until Friday when Williford was arrested, “she had been putting a pinch of Borax in her minor child’s water,” according to charging documents. “The child has been having an upset stomach and a rash throughout the school year. After a medical exam, it was determined that chronic exposure to borax is potentially dangerous and could produce long-term side effects.”

Williford lives with her two children, including a 14-year-old daughter. Police became involved after Williford allegedly told representatives at the teen’s school that she puts Borax in her daughter’s water.

When questioned, the girl told investigators that “she had witnessed her mom putting Borax in their drinking water and that she did it for health reasons, and that it would help her slim down. She described it as a pinch only once a day beginning a few years ago. She also disclosed that Barbara gives her horse pills but she could not remember the name,” a police booking affidavit further states.

The girl also said her younger brother also drinks water with Borax, according to the affidavit, and they do it to help their immune system.

Police executed a search warrant on Williford’s home on Friday and located multiple boxes of Borax, with each box containing “a warning to contact a physician immediately if consumed,” charging documents state. “Borax is a powdery white substance, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate or disodium tetraborate. It’s widely used as a household cleaner and a booster for laundry detergent. It’s a combination of boron, sodium, and oxygen,” according to the affidavit.

On Jan. 22, a caseworker from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services went to the Williford home to speak to the mother about allegedly giving her children Borax, and “Barbara told them they were uneducated and would not allow them inside the residence,” the affidavit states.

Police executed a search warrant on Williford’s home on Friday and located multiple boxes of Borax with each box containing “a warning to contact a physician immediately if consumed,” charging documents state. Williford was arrested at that time.