"Baby Jane" HUNT - 3 months - Ocala FL

A military deserter accused of battering his girlfriend and abusing their
3-month-old daughter was arrested and charged with battery and aggravated child
abuse, according to the Ocala Police Department.

An officer went to Munroe Regional Medical Center on Monday after receiving a call about an
infant with significant bruising.

The woman, 29, and Ryan Lee Hunt, 20, whom she said was her boyfriend and the child's father,
took the baby girl to the hospital because of swelling in her hip area.

During examination, doctors detected an old fracture on the child's left hip and three
fractured ribs.

The doctors said the fractures appeared to be about four to six weeks old.

It was believed the injury to the left hip may have occurred when the limbs were twisted.

The woman and Hunt told officials they are the only ones who care for the child.

The Department of Children and Families was notified, and an official from the agency went to
the hospital and took custody of the child, police say.

While at the hospital, the child's mother told an officer that Hunt on Friday hit her in the
chest and arms and grabbed her neck in an attempt to choke her. She said she has
been a victim of numerous beatings by him in the past, but did not report them.
The couple lives in Parkside Garden Apartments.

The officer noted multiple bruises on the woman's chest and arms, and finger marks on her
neck.

During the investigation, authorities discovered Hunt had a federal warrant for being a
deserter from the U.S. Navy. He was taken into custody.

Hunt, officials say, was supposed to leave on a ship in December, but instead went
home to visit his baby and never returned.The couple was
taken to the Ocala Police Department for questioning.

The woman told officials she saw Hunt grab their daughter with his hands while they argued.

She said Hunt was angry, and she heard the child made a strange noise and knew the little one
was hurt, so she took the baby from him.

Another time, she said, she saw Hunt twist the baby's leg while changing the infant's
diaper.

She said he was mad because the little girl was moving and jerked her leg.

Hunt told Detective Jimmy Deas he grabbed his daughter around her chest area sometime in
January.

He said he grabbed and jerked his daughter's legs a few weeks ago, and they later were
swollen.

He said he applied ice to reduce the swelling, but it didn't do any good. The couple then
decided to take the child to the hospital.

Hunt denied hitting the woman, but he admitted poking her two or three times in her
chest.

Hunt remained in the Marion County Jail without bond Tuesday.

DCF officials said late Tuesday the baby was in foster care and expected to be fine
medically.

DCF has prior involvement with the woman, most recently in the fall of 2009 while she was
pregnant, and officials with the agency said she has had children removed from
her care and not returned.