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Westfield man accused of severely hurting one-year-old charged with child abuse

Posted at 1:50 PM, Oct 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-03 18:45:28-04

A Westfield man has been charged with child abuse after hurting a one-year-old so severely that it spent about a month in the hospital.

Shane Blankenship, 33, of Westfield, was charged with physical abuse of a child - intentionally causing great bodily harm as a repeater, first degree reckless injury as a repeater and multiple drug-related counts.

On August 27, 2017, the child's mother returned to the home she shared with Blankenship after work around 3:50 p.m., according to a criminal complaint. She saw her one-year-old child sleeping at that time.

After leaving to pick up her other children, the mother returned home and saw the one-year-old in the same position. She then noticed scrapes on his arm and bruises on his head and face, the complaint said.

She asked Blankenship what happened, but he said he didn't know, according to court documents. 

The mother brought the child to Moundview Memorial Hospital in Friendship, Wisconsin. He was somewhat conscious, court documents stated. Because of the severity of his injuries, he was transported to UW Children's Hospital.

A doctor there said the one-year-old had major bruising on parts of his head, possible burn marks on his back, a section of hair missing on the back of his head and what appeared to be a human bite mark on his side, the complaint said.

He also had three acute compression fractures and a whiplash type injury that were "consistent with being slammed down forcefully," according to the complaint.

Blankenship admitted to police that he had been drinking and smoked marijuana that day, the complaint said.

He was arrested for being in violation of his probation/parole, but after a lengthy investigation was charged with child abuse.

The child was just released from the hospital last week and is in an in-patient rehabilitation facility recovering.

Blankenship will be in court Tuesday for a bond/bail hearing.

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