"Toddler Jane Doe" - 2 yo/ Accused: Steve Slasinski Jr - St Petersburg FL

http://www2.tbo.com/news/news/2011/dec/09/1/man-charged-with-beating-girlfriends-mentally-disa-ar-333128/
ST. PETERSBURG --

A 21-year-old man was arrested today on charges he beat his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter, who suffers from brain damage and is blind.

Steve Slasinski Jr. was charged with one count of aggravated child abuse. He was being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail.

According to an arrest affidavit, the child suffers from hydrocephalus, a condition where fluid collects around the brain, as well as from agenesis of the cerebellum, which is the partial or complete absence of the cerebellum, at the base of the skull.

On Dec. 6, Slasinksi was taking care of the child in his girlfriend's absence, and at some point beat the child in the face and head, causing considerable bruising, the affidavit said.

When the child was later taken by bus to a special school, the bus driver noticed the girl was severely bruised about the face and head, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz. A teacher saw the bruising, too, and notified the Department of Children and Families, police and the child's 19-year-old mother, Puetz said.

As she drove to her daughter's school, the mother called Slasinski, and he denied doing anything, Puetz said. She called him a second time once she saw the bruising, and he started crying, saying he had lost his temper with the disabled toddler, Puetz said.

Slasinski had been living with the woman and her daughter in a St. Petersburg apartment since September, Puetz said.

Slasinski is currently on probation on a burglary charge, Puetz said. He was arrested at his probation officer's office today, Puetz said.

The girl was not hospitalized, Puetz said.