Cincinnati Children’s Hospital notified the Pike County Sheriff’s Office that a four-month-old baby boy was brought there for a broken arm. The hospital discovered the child had multiple broken bones at various stages of healing. Medical professionals tested the child to make sure he wasn’t suffering from brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta). When they ruled that out, they notified law enforcement the injuries were a result of severe child abuse.
The sheriff’s office conducted interviews with the baby’s parents, Jeffery Burris and Lindsay Bumgardner. Officials said they obtained a confession during those interviews.
The sheriff’s office charged Burris with child endangering and felonious assault. The court arraigned Burris on August 24 and the court set a bond of $160,000.
Mom Failed To Protect Child
Pike County Sheriff James E. Nelson said that officers took the baby’s mother into custody last week. Deputies arrested 24-year-old Lindsay C. Bumgardner or SR 124 on felony charges of child endangerment on September 16th.
Pike County investigators interviewed Bumgardner and quickly determined she failed to protect her child from severe harm.
The sheriff said the Pike County Grand Jury heard the cases against Bumgardner and Burris on September 18.
Signs Of Abuse
Experts link infant abuse to domestic violence, mental illness, and substance abuse. Another factor is that adults often have an unrealistic expectation of how babies should behave. Unexplained crying, messy diapers, feeding issues, and other ordinary issues can trigger overreactions in inexperienced parents. Some adults may even attempt to punish babies to somehow correct their natural behavior.
Premature babies and children with developmental issues like autism are particularly at risk for abuse.
Signs of physical abuse in an infant include:
- Injuries on children who are not mobile
- Injuries on the back and buttocks, ears, inside the mouth, genitalia and inner thighs, the neck, arms or legs, and underarms.
- Multiple injuries in various stages of healing