Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

MIDDLETOWN -- A local man in due in District Court, Newport, today on child abuse charges, the Rhode Island State Police announced today.

Brandon Holley, 26, of 9 Admiralty Drive, Apt. #7, Middletown, was arrested Saturday afternoon and charged with first-degree and second-degree child abuse, according to a statement issued today by the state police.

The police said Holley caused the injuries last Wednesday by stepping on his son's back and abdomen and kicking him and by repeatedly striking the child in the face Thursday morning (Thanksgiving Day).

The alleged child abuse was reported by a Department of Children Youth and Families worker Friday night.

The DCYF told the state police that an eight-month-old child had been taken to Boston's Children's Hospital with internal injuries and contusions to his face. DCYF workers said an initial investigation found that the child's mother left the child home with his father early Thanksgiving Day. When she returned home, the mother noticed bruising on the child's face.

Later in that day, the family traveled to Derry, N.H., to spend the holiday with their relatives. The maternal grandparents noticed the injuries and asked for the child to be taken to the hospital.

The child was initially examined at Parkland Medical Center in Derry, N.H. Because of the seriousness of the injuries, he was transferred to Children's Hospital in Boston.

 Tags  Boston Brandon Holley child abuse Children's Hospital Derry Middletown New Hampshire RI

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