A new father in Missouri is accused of fracturing 14 bones in his two-month-old baby daughter’s body after claiming he tripped over the child.
Richard Leonard, 20, and his wife took their two-month-old daughter to a pediatrician on December 18 who ‘pointed out some bruising’ on the young child that Leonard ‘wasn’t seeing/ didn’t think was bruising,’ according to a probable cause affidavit.
The doctor recommended the new parents take their child to a hospital, and then called the Department of Family Services hotline to report signs of abuse.
Police officers then conducted a home check at the request of the department, but found the child in her mother’s arms, apparently content, Law & Crime reports.
But the following day, police received a phone call from a doctor at the Children’s Mercy Hospital, saying the child was brought in late the night before with a total of 14 fractures to her arms, legs, ribs and fingers, which the doctor said were ‘signs of classic abuse,’ according to the Kansas City Star.
She also had bruises on her shoulder, face and back.
At that point, police say, Leonard claimed he dropped the baby after tripping. He then changed his story to say he fell on top of the child after he tripped.
Yet the doctor said that would only explain some of the injuries, but not all of them, as the fractures were in various stages of healing – which he claimed were ‘signs of classic abuse,’ WDBJ reports.
Upon questioning, the child’s mother told officers she and Leonard had been together since November 2023, got married in May and had the girl in October.
She said she did not think her husband was ‘capable’ of hurting the child, as she questioned whether she could have injured her daughter by rolling over her while co-sleeping or if a jumping dog could have caused the injuries.
But the mother also allegedly told police Leonard was abused as a child and was placed in foster care.
Leonard then told officers that the ‘lack of sleep, constant crying during diaper changes and his own anger issues had become a problem resulting in abuse.’
He explained that when he was abused as a child, he would pull out his hair to deal with the stress – and he had recently resorted back to that behavior.
Leonard said the stress was building, after the couple moved into a new home and with a new baby, and ‘there was just too much going on at once.’
‘The part that made him the most upset is the fact that [the baby] would always scream when he tried to hold her,’ the affidavit said.
Leonard also allegedly told police that when the baby was ‘really young, he had a problem with punching himself in the jaw.
‘This is how he coped with the stress,’ the affidavit said.
‘When she would wake up in the night, he would take out the stress on himself rather than [the child]. He would bruise himself up pretty good.
‘Then one day, he decided to stop.’
‘He never hit [the girl], just grabbed her roughly,’ the affidavit said, explaining how Leonard admitted to using ‘more force than necessary’ during dressing, swaddling and diaper changes.
Leonard is now charged with child abuse, but was released from Lee County prison after paying $5,000 of his $50,000 bond.
He is barred from having any contact with the child’s mother and his daughter, who is now in the custody of the Department of Family Services.