JACOB ISAAC CLAUS - 5 Months - Penn Hills (NE of Pittsburgh) PA

Jacob Issac Claus, five months, is a beautiful boy, but on Wednesday
morning for some still unknown reason police say his 22-year-old father
Jesse Claus lost his cool.
"I thought he was gonna die before we got to the hospital, I really
did," Elaine Jones, his great-grandmother, said.
Penn Hills Police Chief Howard Burton described the scene when medics arrived.
"They found the baby in distress, did a quick examination, saw marks
around his face and neck," he said.
Jones had taken her granddaughter, 19-year-old Allannah Darr, the baby's
mother, to look for a job that morning. They got a call on their cell phone.
"He said the baby wouldn't stop crying," Jones recalled.
Rushing home, they found the child barely moving and bleeding from his
mouth. Jones says Jesse Claus had shown a violent side before in the
four years the couple had lived with her.
"He's a dear person when he isn't mad, but when he's mad he's horrible,
he becomes somebody else," Jones said.
At Children's' Hospital, Jacob was found to have bleeding on his brain
and bruising. Neurosurgeons also told the family there was evidence of
past injuries. The father was arrested at the hospital, according to Burton.
"The father did admit striking the child, having a problem with the child," Burton said.
Dr. Janet Squires of the Children's Hospital Child Advocacy Center is
seeing such cases on the increase.
"Historically for severe brain injury and we used to see about 10 to 12
cases a year," she said. "We have seen a spike – we've been averaging
over 30 for the past two years."
That spike may just be the tip of the iceberg in these increasing child abuse cases.
"As the recession started, it seems to us that we're seeing more
children injured as families are more under stress," Squires said.
Jacob's great-grandmother worries that she won't be able to see the baby again.
"We love that baby, we love our granddaughter," she said. "That baby
was so advanced, such a pretty boy."
Jacob was moved from the intensive care unit to a regular room. Doctors
believe that he may not suffer any permanent brain damage.
At a hearing this morning, Allegheny County Children, Youth and Family
Services took custody of the little boy.