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Baby suffers severe injuries, Jasonville man arrested
A one-month-old child is reported to have suffered extremely serious injuries, which appear to be consistent with physical abuse, and the child's father has been arrested.
The baby is not expected to ever be able to walk, talk or see due to the injuries.
Kenneth E. Russell, 26, of Jasonville, the father, was taken into custody Wednesday and booked into the Greene County Jail by Indiana State Police Detective Paul Suding.
The preliminary charges filed against Russell include three counts of battery resulting in serious bodily injury, all as class B felonies.
Det. Suding has been investigating the case along with Case Manager Don Fish of the Greene County Department of Child Services.
According to a probable cause prepared by Det. Suding, the child, who was born on Oct. 6, was at home but not breathing on Sunday, Nov. 7.
An emergency call to 911 was made and the baby was transported to Greene County General Hospital, then transferred to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.
Fish said St. Vincent Hospital staff initially reported to him that the baby had 11 broken bones including fractures to the left and right femurs, multiple rib fractures, suffered bleeding on the brain, and that some of the fractures were new, others appeared to be a couple of weeks old, and that some of the blood on the brain was old, meaning there was bleeding on the brain in the past.
Det. Suding said both the mother and father of the child were interviewed and the mother "told me that she believed the injuries were not an accident. ... said that she is afraid of Kenneth, and had concerns with Kenneth's temper."
The investigators determined that since the child was born, Russell had only been alone with the child twice, once on Nov. 7 and one other time in late October in a time frame consistent with an estimate on when the older injuries took place.
Det. Suding wrote that when Russell was interviewed, he said he has had a lot of "personal frustrations" lately, and when the child's mother went to the store on Nov. 7, he was changing the baby's diaper when the child pulled his legs up and Russell grabbed and slammed his legs back down causing the fractures. A little later, the baby would not stop crying so Russell shook the baby.
According to the affidavit, Russell admitted that he was responsible for the baby's injuries.
Regarding the baby's condition, Det. Suding wrote, "On the afternoon of Nov. 10, I received a report from Dr. Coffey at St. Vincent Children's Hospital concerning a summary of the injuries suffered by the baby. According to Dr. Coffey, the baby was found to have bruising to the chest and rib cage, multiple fractures of different ages, including two recent rib fractures and six rib fractures from 7-14 days ago, fractures to both the right and left femur bones and the left tibia. The report also indicates that the baby suffered severe brain injury. According to information provided by Sheila Day, LCSW, Coordinator for the Child Protection Team at St. Vincent Hospital, the baby will not be able to walk, talk or see due to the extent of the injury to the brain."
Russell is currently being held in jail on $45,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Greene Circuit Court for an initial hearing on Monday at 1:15 p.m.