POULSBO — A Poulsbo woman suspected of breaking her 4-year-old son’s leg by “tossing” him was charged Monday with second-degree assault of a child.

Esther Marie Mullen, 32, is accused of injuring the boy Aug. 21. His father took him to the hospital the next day, where the doctor grew suspicious and the Poulsbo police were called. The boy had told employees at the urgent care clinic at Harrison Medical Center in Silverdale that “he had been pushed too hard by his mother,” court documents said.

The boy’s father told investigators that Mullen has a history of using “lots of physical force” with the boy, but that he was not present when the assault occurred, court documents said.

Mullen “is a good mother but she has an anger problem,” the father told investigators, court documents said.

He told the officer the boy was not obeying his mother when she told him to come inside. When the father returned Mullen allegedly told him she had “tossed” the boy into the house and now he was in pain. The father placed ice on the boy’s leg and took him to the hospital the next day.

Court documents said Mullen has a history of child abuse and involvement with Child Protective Services. She has another child, a 1-year-old.

The charge of assault of a child requires an adult assault and inflict “substantial bodily harm” against a child younger than 13 years old.

Mullen is being held in the Kitsp County jail on $250,000 bail.