An East Huntingdon man arrested last month in connection with the assault of his 3-month-old son was charged this week by state police with endangering the welfare of the infant’s 3-year-old sister.
Taylor J. Shipley, 19, was arrested in Sept. 12 and ordered held in the county prison without bail on charges of aggravated assault and child endangerment for allegedly assaulting his son. The baby was hospitalized Sept. 9 with three broken ribs, bruising and a brain hemorrhage after state police received a ChildLine Report of suspected child abuse.
As a precaution, Trooper Robert Politowski said in court documents that the boy’s older sister, who is not Shipley’s daughter, was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for an examination.
“Dr. Adelaide Eichman found the (toddler) had a large patterned burn to her right buttock, a missing front tooth and bruising on her right thigh,” Politowski said.
Politowski said that troopers also provided Eichman, who is with UPMC’s Children’s Advocacy Center, photographs of an injury to the older child that authorities investigated in March. He said Eichman “indicated the injury was consistent with a slap mark.”
The toddler’s mother, Elizabeth A. Hart, 22, was also charged by state police Thursday with endangering the welfare of children and making false reports in the most recent case. She was released on $25,000 unsecured bond.
Hart declined comment Friday when reached by telephone.
Politowski reported that Hart told troopers her daughter suffered the burn because she was cold one morning and sat on a space heater. Hart said both Shipley and she were home at the time of that injury, according to court records.
Hart told one trooper that the girl lost her tooth when she fell in bathtub.
In an interview with investigators, the toddler said Shipley abused her, Politkowski said.
Troopers received a ChildLine report of suspected child abuse on Sept. 9 after the boy was flown from Huntingdon Village Apartments by medical helicopter to UPMC Children’s Hospital. Paramedics said the baby was “blue and limp,” according to court papers.
Shipley has been held in the county prison without bail since his Sept. 11 arrest.
A preliminary hearing for the couple is scheduled Nov. 6 before East Huntingdon District Judge Charles Moore.
