Jackson man charged with child endangerment after baby suffers broken clavicle

A Jackson man was being held in the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a charge of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child Thursday after police responded to a report of an injured infant being treated at Saint Francis Medical Center.

Jeromy Lee McClanahand, 20, was being held on $25,000 bond Thursday, Jackson police said in a news release.

According to a probable-cause statement by Lt. Rodney Barnes, the 2-month-old child was taken to the hospital Monday with a fever and an exam showed she had a broken clavicle. A doctor said the injury had happened within the past week.

According to the statement, Children's Division investigator Carrie Patrick said the child's mother had given conflicting accounts of how the injury happened. Patrick also said McClanahand abruptly left the hospital when he found out a Children's Division investigator had been contacted. McClanahand had been living with the child's mother since February.

The mother said that three days before she took the infant to the hospital, she had been in the shower while McClanahand was watching her child when she heard the baby screaming. The infant continued to cry for several days, causing the mother to take her to the hospital, the statement said.

According to the statement, McClanahand, who is awaiting charges in Madison County, Mo., on domestic assault, child abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, had told the mother not to tell authorities he had been in the home. He also allegedly told her to make up stories about the injuries. The mother said McClanahand had been violent in the past, the statement said.

McClanahand hadn't yet obtained a lawyer Thursday afternoon.

Pertinent address:

Jackson, MO