"Newborn John" BAHAM-BATEMAN - 3 Months - Covington (N of Lake Pontchartrain) LA

Covington LA ---- The parents of a three-month-old baby were arrested
on cruelty charges after she was treated at the hospital for several
broken bones.
Covington Police spokesman Jack West said the arrests of 26-year-old
Justin Baham and 21-year-old Victoria Bateman were made following an
11-week investigation.


According to West, the baby was being treated at Children’s Hospital
when doctors notified the Office of Child Services about a serious case
of child abuse.
Covington Police worked with Children’s Hospital to make sure the
injuries weren’t from some type of medical condition before making the
arrests.

I just wanted to make a correction to this- the baby was actually male not female.

lss131 wrote:I just wanted to make a correction to this- the baby was actually male not female.

---Thanks for the correction. I had found reports that said that but the majority were not giving either sex.
Changed to "John"

An 11-week investigation by the Covington Police Department ended with
the arrest of two individuals for child abuse in a case involving a 3-month-old infant.
Facing felony charges for cruelty are Justin
D. Baham, 26, 2015 Pine Crest Ave. Apt. 1122, Covington and Victoria
Bateman, 21, same address. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be
10 years in prison.
The child, who is now 6-months old, was being
treated at Children’s Hospital for broken bones. The hospital called
OCS, saying they had a “serious child abuse case,” according to a press
release sent by Capt. Jack West, public information officer at CPD. The
Office of Child Services then called CPD because the alleged incident occurred in Covington.
West said that “during the investigation, Covington investigators worked
closely with doctors from Children’s Hospital to make sure the injuries
were not from a medical condition.”
West also said the infant has been placed in foster care by OCS.
Jobeth Rickles of the Children’s Advocacy Center/Hope House said that their facility counsels
children over 3-years-old who have been involved in abuse, either as a witness or a victim.
Under the age of three, Rickles said children can fall through the cracks because of a lack of communication skills.
The statistics can be staggering; CASA’s statistics for
children over 3-years old showed they were called in 251 cases for 2009.
Thus far, through June 11, 2010, they have handled 125 cases.
These are all reported cases or people seeking the free available counseling
to battle the effects of child abuse.
CASA also conducts forensic interviews of children for use in court cases.
A cultural community problem, Rickles said that generally, statistics show child
abuse is more common among whites. This could be because a lot of child
abuse among other cultures goes unreported or that the rate is actually higher.
There is also no boundary as far as economics or
education is concerned. It happens everywhere, rich and poor, educated
or dropouts, it doesn’t seem to matter.
For more information on CASA, counseling and other services, call 892-3885.