by John Wharton Staff writer
A Lexington Park man, charged last Thursday with child abuse after he brought his injured 10-week-old daughter into a hospital, told police that he must have “pushed down too hard,” court papers state, when putting her in the seat of her swing.
A judge ordered Friday that Reynold Obrien Gibbs, 27, remain in jail in lieu of $75,000 bond on the charge of first-degree child abuse causing severe physical injury, and committing a first-degree assault on the infant at their Town Creek Manor area residence.
Gibbs brought the baby last Wednesday, April 16, to MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital, because of a possible injury to her left leg, court papers state, and an examination found fractures to her left tibia and right femur, five broken ribs, apparent trauma to her abdomen and neck, and apparent bruising to her left thigh and her face.
“It was determined the injuries were resultant from blunt force beyond anything normally associated with the care and handling of an infant,” according to a statement of probable cause filed by St. Mary’s sheriff’s detective Elizabeth Croyle.
The baby is still in hospital care, detective Capt. Terry Black said this week.
During the ensuing police investigation, court papers state, Gibbs agreed to meet detectives at the sheriff’s office, where he was questioned about his care of the baby the night before he brought her to the hospital. He was cooperative,” Black said.
Gibbs told police that he was at home with the baby, and that the only other people there were the child’s grandmother, who was sleeping in a downstairs bedroom, and the baby’s 17-month-old sibling, according to charging papers.
“We believe the mother was at work,” the captain said.
During questioning, charging papers state, “The defendant [stated] the child’s injuries ... must have occurred when he put the child in her swing after a feeding. He stated he had ‘pushed down too hard’ when placing the child in the seat.”
Gibbs was feeding the baby again about an hour later, according to his account in the charging papers, “when he noticed the child’s left leg hanging limp, [and] he elected to take her to the hospital.”