UPDATE: Police: Child cruelty victim ‘improving’
Published 10:33 pm Wednesday, March 23, 2022
VALDOSTA — A child severely injured in a case of child cruelty is improving in hospital, police said Wednesday.
At about 12:40 p.m. Friday, March 18, police responded to a Valdosta hotel after employees with the Lowndes County Department of Family and Children Services called asking for police help, according to a Valdosta Police Department statement.
When officers arrived at the motel, they were told a representative from a Florida adoption center had picked up a child younger than 2 years old from the motel the previous day. When the adoption center agent picked up the child, he appeared to have injuries. The child was taken to a children’s hospital in Florida, where he was admitted and was listed in critical condition, the statement said.
Wednesday, Valdosta Police Chief Leslie Manahan said the boy seemed to be improving, though he was still in critical condition.
Detectives contacted Florida law enforcement. They found out that the child had several bone fractures, had a subdermal hematoma, was malnourished and had other medical concerns.
Officers made contact with the child’s mother and her boyfriend, both Valdosta residents, at the motel. After police interviews, both were taken to the Lowndes County Jail and charged with felony aggravated battery and felony cruelty to children in the first degree, police said.
The case is still active and detectives are working closely with Florida authorities and the Lowndes County Department of Family and Children Service.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with this child as he fights for his life. This is one of the worst cases of abuse that our agency has investigated in some time,” Police Chief Leslie Manahan said in a statement.
Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.