Child Taken To Hospital With 2nd-Degree Burns, Injured Ribs; Parents Facing Charges
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A mother and father are facing charges after their infant son was taken to the hospital with burns and injured ribs.
According to a criminal complaint, a 4-month-old child was brought to a hospital emergency room on May 17 with second degree burns on his face, neck and chest. Doctors also noticed he had a number of other injuries, including multiple fractured ribs and bruises on his thigh, knee and forehead.
A doctor said the child's burns were consistent with scalding hot chemical burns, and doctors later determined his rib injuries were at least two weeks old.
The child's father -- 31-year-old Robert Andrews, of McKees Rocks -- allegedly told detectives that on May 16, he had been holding the child against his bare chest with the child's head resting in his armpit. Andrews said it was possible the burns were caused by his cheap deodorant and he couldn't think of any other explanation.
Andrews said he had noticed on May 16 that his child's face was peeling and he rubbed dry skin off his face, but he said the child didn't seem upset or in pain.
The criminal complaint says Andrews told detectives he had "no idea" how his son could have had fractured ribs.
The child's mother -- 27-year-old Ashley Cochran, of Pittsburgh -- told detectives that she noticed the burns on her son's face when she woke up on May 17 and told Andrews they needed to take him to the hospital.
She also said she had "no idea" how the child had fractured ribs. She later told detectives that her 5-year-old daughter had fallen onto the child a few weeks ago while he was in his bouncy seat, which she believed could have possibly caused the rib injuries.
Cochran told police she didn't think Andrews would ever hurt their son.
Children's Child Advocacy doctors determined the child's injuries were the result of trauma on an immobile child and there is no history of trauma that reasonably explains the injuries. Officials concluded the child had been the victim of child abuse on more than one occasion.
The child was removed from his parents' custody before being discharged from the hospital.
Andrews is facing charges of aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Cochran is facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child.