"John" CHURCH - 5 months - Las Cruces NM

by TomTerrific0420 Thu Oct 08, 2009 7:47 pm

A man was arrested Tuesday on a child
abuse charge after his five-month-old son suffered two skull fractures
and brain hemorrhaging, Las Cruces police said. About 9:30 p.m.
Tuesday, emergency crews were called to an apartment in the 1400 block
of South Alamo St. Emergency personnel found the boy had multiple
bruises to his cheeks and back and was having trouble breathing, police
said. The boy was taken to Memorial Medical Center in Las
Cruces then flown to University Medical Center in El Paso where he is
in serious condition. The boy's father, 29-year-old Russ
William Church, is charged with one felony count of intentional child
abuse resulting in great bodily harm. Police said Church appears to
have just moved to Las Cruces from Colorado. Investigators said
the boy's mother was at work Tuesday evening and Church was taking care
of his son. Church allegedly told detectives that his son fell off a
couch and on the way to the kitchen to clean the blood coming from the
boy's mouth, he dropped his son twice. Church said the boy's head
struck the sink and then the floor, according to police. Church
told investigators that he left his son wrapped in a blanket in the
living room then went to a neighbor's apartment to ask for help. He was arrested and is being held at the Dona Ana County Detention Center with $50,000 bond.