Matthew Hoots. charged 2mt baby abused left with disability Second man charged with aggravated child abuse
2-month-old left with permanent disability, disfigurement
HARBOUR HEIGHTS -- A 2-month-old girl suffered brain injuries, 20 rib fractures, breaks in three of the four growth plates in her knees and a busted tibia -- all allegedly the result of abuse by her father, Matthew William Hoots.
Hoots, 23, of 3263 Sulstone Drive in Harbour Heights, was charged Thursday with aggravated child abuse for allegedly causing the injuries that a Charlotte County Sheriff's Office report said resulted in permanent disability and disfigurement.
Hoots is the second person this week to be charged with aggravated child abuse in Charlotte County. On Wednesday, Englewood resident Samuel W. Petrucci, 28, was arrested for allegedly causing brain injuries to a then-5-month-old girl. Sheriff's detectives charged Petrucci more than two years after the infant was first treated at a nearby hospital. He is being held at the Charlotte County Jail on $20,000 bond.
According to the report in Thursday's arrest, Hoots' daughter was taken to Peace River Regional Hospital on Nov. 28 because she was twitching on one side. In the emergency room, she began having seizures. A CT scan revealed bleeding in her brain.
The baby was airlifted to All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, where Dr. Sally Smith -- a physician called by the hospital when injuries are the result of suspected abuse -- examined her. She discovered the rib, knee and leg fractures, which were in different stages of healing and seemed to have been sustained at different times, the report said.
According to the report, Smith told police the rib fractures seemed to be the result of pressure or squeezing of the chest; the knee injuries could have been caused by yanking the limbs; and the leg fracture was "typically caused by a twisting or swinging of a child by its legs." The baby's brain injuries could have been the result of "Shaken Baby Syndrome," the report said, and impact with a soft surface like a bed.
Hoots was suspected in the abuse because he watched the baby from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. each morning, when the baby's mother, Hoots' wife, went to work as an independent contractor and home delivery carrier for the Sun. The wife's mother and sister also live with the family.
The baby's mother told police that several weeks earlier, she heard a crackling sound in the baby's chest, the report said. She took the baby to a hospital, where she was diagnosed with pneumonia. According to the report, the rib fractures may have looked like pneumonia on an X-ray, resulting in a misdiagnosis.
One day, Hoots' wife and mother-in-law returned from a shopping trip and the mother-in-law observed that the baby was acting strangely. The baby had been in Hoots' care. Hoots told her "not to touch her and that she was fine," the report said. At about 2 a.m. the next morning, on Nov. 27, Hoots called 9-1-1 because the baby had a fever and possibly seizures. According to the report, he waived transport and was told by EMS to take the baby to a pediatrician. The baby's mother said she did not find out about the 9-1-1 call until she returned home from work.
The baby's grandmother told police Hoots was "very controlling, and when the injuries were discovered to (the baby), he immediately retained an attorney and ordered everyone not to provide a statement for the case," the report said.
Hoots was held at the Charlotte County Jail on $60,000 bond Friday. Information on the baby's condition and location were not released.
You can e-mail Carolyn Quinn at cquinn@sun-herald.comhttp://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/121606/np5.htm?date=121606&story=np5.htm
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