ROSS COUNTY, Ohio — A man is behind bars after being caught on a baby monitor punching a baby multiple times.
Deputies from the Ross County Sheriff’s office said that a local woman informed her husband that she intended to take a brief five-minute shower, leaving her eight-week-old daughter in her crib.
Concerned about the baby’s recent bouts of crying during the mother’s showers, the mother initially attributed it to her daughter’s desire for attention. However, upon exiting the shower, she was met with the sound of the infant’s cries growing louder. Alarmed, she rushed to the nursery.
Shocking footage captured on a baby monitor revealed a deeply disturbing scene. The video allegedly showed the woman’s husband striking the infant multiple times on her back with a closed fist. The baby’s cries escalated following the blows, video shows.
Confronting her husband, the woman urged him to seek mental health treatment. In response, he reportedly expressed a desire not to continue living. The man then contacted a friend from their church, who promptly picked him up from the residence, taking his firearm with him. The woman acted swiftly, disarming her husband and securing the weapon.
When deputies arrived, the baby appeared to be eating and behaving normally. Upon examination, deputies observed a bruised area on the baby’s lower back, approximately the size of an adult fist. The deputy documented the injury through photographs and added them to the case file. The nursery video, which captured the alleged assault, was obtained and secured. Due to a bruise on her lower back, the baby was taken to the emergency room.
The man was taken to the hospital for suicidal ideologies and is expected to be charged with assault, domestic violence, and endangering children.