Perryville man accused of causing 'life-threatening' injuries to 2-year-old

Police in Perryville, Missouri, arrested a local man Thursday on suspicion of causing serious injuries to a 2-year-old child.

The Perry County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Donnie Wayne Roberts, 28, of Perryville with first-degree domestic assault and two counts of felony abuse or neglect of a child. Bond information had not been filed in online court records.

Police were alerted to the child's condition by a caseworker at Cardinal Glennon's Children Hospital in St. Louis, according to Perryville Police Cpl. Jerri Cain.

The child suffered retinal hemorrhaging most common with being choked or shaken, a subdural hematoma, which is commonly a head injury severe enough to burst blood vessels; a lacerated liver and bruised pancreas, Cain said.

Emergency personnel said the child's life was in danger when the child was airlifted Dec. 22 from Perry County Memorial Hospital, Cain said. Cain said the last report to police was the child was in stable condition.

"Anytime we file first-degree domestic assault, that's because there are life-threatening injuries," Cain said.

Police arrested Roberts in the 1200 block of Big Spring Boulevard, Cain said.

Roberts had the child in his care at 6 p.m. Dec. 22, when he picked up the child from his girlfriend, Cain said. The injuries could have occurred over the course of one incident, Cain said.

The hemotoma, lacerated liver and bruised pancreas could have been caused by blunt-force trauma, but Cain could not say how the injuries were inflicted.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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