Originally published March 9, 2010 at 10:49 p.m., updated March 10, 2010 at 9:17 a.m.
Robert Hill
Additional Information
Resources for Parents:
St. Louis Crisis Nursery
Family Resource Center
Family Support Network
Nurse for Newborns
Parents as Teachers
Child Abuse Prevention Center
Other Helpful Links
Child Abuse Hotlines
MO – 800-392-3738
IL – 800 252-2873
To report seeing someone abusing a child in public
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A nine-month old Illinois girl remains at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis while the boyfriend of the infant’s mother remains in the Jersey County Jail in Illinois.
This is reportedly the second child in less than two weeks sent to Cardinal Glennon after police said they were beaten by mother's their boyfriend.
The infant, who suffered a leg broken in two places, is believed to have been abused by her mother’s boyfriend. SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center spokespeople said they could not release any details of the infants’ condition or answer any questions regarding the matter.
Robert J. Hill, 22, of Jerseyville, was arrested March 5 and charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a child. He remains in the Jersey County Jail on $100,000 bond.
Neither police nor Cardinal Glennon would release any information about the child’s mother.
Jerseyville Police were contacted about 10 a.m. March 5 by the Illinois Division of Child and Family Services about a suspected case of child abuse, Jerseyville Police Chief Brad Blackorby said in a statement.
Jerseyville Police Lt. Roger Kirby began the investigation and learned from doctors at Cardinal Glennon that the girl had suffered the leg injuries as well as bruising around her mouth, nose, upper lip and the palm of her right hand.
From the nature of the infant’s injuries, interviews and review of medical reports Kirby believed the infant suffered from child abuse and arrested Hill, Blackorby said.
The case comes on the heels of another incident involving a Belleville area child who police believe was also abused in the beginning of March by the boyfriend of the child’s mother.
Amanda Runyon, two- years-old, remains in the pediatric intensive care unit at SSM Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in critical condition after suffering a severe beating at the home she lived in with her mother in the 100 block of Princeton Drive, in unincorporated St. Clair County.
Kraig A. Monroe, 24, of the 100 block of Princeton Drive, was charged with aggravated assault against a child by St. Clair County authorities. He remains in the St. Clair County Jail.
While Cardinal Glennon could not comment on the case specifically, Dr. Timothy Kutz, Chief of the Child Protection Team at Cardinal Glennon, said there could be many contributing factors in cases of physical and sexual child abuse.
“We see a lot of this, unfortunately,” Kutz said. “It varies throughout the year but in terms of physical and sexual abuse, we see hundreds of kids each year. In terms of little babies with horrible head injury, we see one every month or so.”
Kutz said several factors could play a role in abuse cases, some as seemingly mundane as the weather.
“From experience, it tends to be when things aren’t working well for people, who fall into the general category of stressors,” Kutz said. “Like when the weather is not nice when people expected it would be, or in isolated cases where somebody’s sporting team didn’t as well as they wanted them to do.”
Kutz added that the time period between holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas “people can be pretty stressed out from trying to get ready for those events.”
There are solutions parents, caregivers, and even significant others of single parents, can take to relieve their stress before they take it out on children.
“For some parents or caregivers who, with some reflection, realize they may be individuals who get frustrated and angry quickly and potentially aggressive when they get angry, those folks should probably stay away from child care as much as possible,” Kutz said. “Parents who don’t fall into that category certainly can get stressed, maybe even get angry at times. I think most parents can share that experience or understand that.”
The biggest cause for families or caregivers to stress and actually hurt a child appears to be crying, as well as temper tantrums, Kutz said.
He advised that learning a few tips on how to stop a baby from crying, like swaddling them or rocking them or gently bouncing them, can be helpful. Caregivers and parents should also check to see the infant is not hungry, or have a dirty diaper or not too hot or too cold, Kutz added.
“And then if all else fails, there’s always running a vacuum cleaner or taking the child for a ride, either in a stroller or automobile, or putting them in a safe place,” Kutz said. “That’s typically either in a car seat in the middle of a room, or in their crib, and then stepping out of the room trying to calm themselves down while checking on their baby every few minutes.”
Most important, however is learning to recognize aggressive behavior in a spouse, care giver or non-parental mate, Kutz said, and watching for patterns of behavior that “suggest a person maybe doesn’t respond to stress well” is a good place to start.
“It’s more often the case for men than women, but obviously it can affect both genders,” Kutz said. “But if you are in a relationship with somebody that does seem to have problems managing their anger, or who does go from frustrated to angry to physically aggressive, in general that’s probably not a safe person to be around, and certainly not a safe person to entrust the care of your child to.”
Kutz recommends that if a parent sees “any bruises whatsoever” on an infant the parent or caregiver should seek medical evaluation “since infants should not have any bruises at all, even if they otherwise appear fine.”
”If a child doesn’t appear fine, if they are sleepier than they should be, or are vomiting or spitting up more than usual, those are signs that they might have a head injury from an abusive event,” Kutz said. “It might also warrant seeking medical attention.”
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