Woman’s boyfriend blamed his dog and young girl for baby’s injuries, MN cops say
A Minnesota man accused of severely abusing his girlfriend’s baby tried to place the blame on a young child and even his own dog, according to police.
The 23-year-old man, of Eagle Lake, is charged with first-degree assault causing great bodily harm, according to a criminal complaint filed in Blue Earth County.
McClatchy News is not identifying the suspect to protect the identity of the minor.
Deputies responded to an area hospital at about 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 after a mother showed up with her 20-month-old son, who was covered in bruises, documents said.
Medical staff discovered the bruises were among the least of his injuries, according to investigators. He was bleeding internally in one of his eyes, his liver, a kidney and lower bowels were torn and his spine was fractured and would require surgery to place stabilizing pins, officials said.
It was as if the child had been in a car crash, officials said, or suffered serious physical abuse.
When the mother went to bed the night before, her baby seemed fine, she told deputies. But the next day, the boyfriend told an unnamed witness “there was a situation” and that the baby must have hurt himself by throwing a tantrum inside his crib.
The unnamed witness told deputies she and the mother took the baby to the hospital, adding she was worried the mother would not go if she were by herself.
When deputies spoke the boyfriend later that day, he “immediately asked if anybody was going to jail.”
He was also quick to shift any possible blame away from himself, according to documents.
During the night, he said he heard “noises like a ghost, or somebody was in there moving stuff,” and when he went to check it out, the baby had a bruise on his face, investigators said.
He said the boy has a history of injuring himself while others are asleep, and when he asked him if that’s what happened, he nodded yes, officials said.
He also suggested that a girl under the age of 10 at the home may be responsible, saying he and his girlfriend “had to stop (the girl) from shaking (the baby) in the past,” and that she had previously hit and kicked the boy, documents show.
Officials didn’t say how, or if, the girl is related to anyone at the residence.
The man added that “his dog was aggressive and likes to nitpick and bite and jump on (the baby),” according to deputies.
As the interview went on, he told investigators there were occasions when he may have unintentionally harmed the child, by picking him up “really quickly,” possibly “(shaking) him just enough to cause the injuries.”
Then there were the times he “got frustrated” while playing Xbox and hit the baby in the head with a controller, he told deputies.
“He stated this happened twice over the past few weeks,” documents read.
Investigators didn’t believe the dog or the girl had a hand in the abuse, nor did they believe the baby’s injuries were accidental.
“There would be no possible way for (the baby’s) injuries to have been sustained in the manner (the man) reported and could not have been caused by an accidental drop or fall from a high chair,” documents said. “The injuries were consistent with child abuse.”
If convicted, the man could face up to 20 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.
Eagle Lake is about an 80-mile drive southwest from Minneapolis.
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