"Toddler Jane Doe" - 21 months - Westminster MD

Westminster MD ---- A quiet Carroll County neighborhood is rocked by news of the assault of a
toddler. Police say the little girl was abused by her mother's boyfriend.
Police say the baby was so fragile after the middle-of-the-night attack that she
was eventually brought to Johns Hopkins for treatment and even endured a "safe
exam," which is the procedure for rape victims.

A 23-year-old living in a
child-filled Westminster neighborhood with his parents and brother is now
accused of abusing a 21-month-old girl, the daughter of his
girlfriend.



Police say Ryan Gifford abused the baby while the girl's
mother slept downstairs.

"Definitely surprised. Hurt for the mom and dad
because I don't think that they had an idea. The younger brother, definitely
hurt for him, too, and really, I hope justice is served," said neighbor Angie
Peaslee.

The mother tells police that she put her baby girl down to go to
sleep at 10:30 p.m. in Gifford's bed. Then the couple walked to get alcohol.
Police say Gifford drank a half gallon of white wine and became intoxicated
before the couple went to sleep.

Court documents say the mother woke up
to find Gifford locked in the bathroom with the little girl with the shower on.
After loud knocking and screaming, he let her in. She says Gifford and the baby
were both naked.

He said that the baby had "blood on her ears... [so he]
gave her a shower" and he told the mother that "the baby was fussy and she had
fallen down" to explain cuts, blood, swelling and bruises all over her
body.

"I have three children and they're absolutely terrified. They
spent the day watching three sheriff's cars back there, wondering what was going
on, what has happened. And my children at night are constantly asking if the
doors are locked, are we safe?" said neighbor Leah Mader.

The police
investigation turned up blood on the bed, pack-and-play and a T-shirt belonging
to Gifford. He told police, "Must have been her blood. I don't remember
anything."

"And it's an absolute devastation that anyone could be so sick
and so cruel to do such a thing to any mankind," Mader said.


Investigators also found second-degree burns on the baby's calf and
foot. No one at the suspect's house wanted to discuss the case.

An
online search of Maryland court records shows Gifford has a record of drug
charges. He is currently being held on a $500,000 bond.

A Carroll County judge awarded temporary custody Monday of a
21-month-old girl at the center of an abuse case to her maternal
grandmother and step-grandfather.A hearing on permanent custody
will be held later, Carroll Circuit Judge Michael M. Galloway decided.The
child was hospitalized April 11 after her 19-year-old mother discovered
that the girl had been injured after both had spent the night at the
home of Ryan C. Gifford, 23. The mother told police that she and Gifford
had been drinking. She said she cleaned the child, returned her to bed
and took her to a hospital seven hours later.
Police said neither Gifford or the mother could explain the child's
injuries, which included bruises, burns and evidence that she had been
raped. Gifford was arrested and charged with assault and child abuse.
The girl was released Wednesday from Johns Hopkins Hospital in
Baltimore.The child's mother told the judge Monday that she did
not object to her mother and stepfather assuming control of the child.
Galloway ordered the young mother to take classes on parenting and
domestic violence, and signed a protective order that bars her from
seeing her daughter outside of weekly supervised visits.Galloway
said the child's paternal grandparents may also see her during the
visitation sessions.The mother and the girl's father have been
separated since shortly after the child was born in July 2008. The
father, who also was told he could see his daughter only under
supervision, left the courthouse without comment.But his parents
and two sisters, who have posted fliers around Westminster critical of
the young mother's family, said they objected strongly to the temporary
order. They said the baby's father had been seeking custody since May
and had not been able to see his daughter since July. Since the couple's
separation, the toddler had spent much of her time at the home of her
maternal grandmother and step-grandfather, they said. "Someone
needs to take this child out of these people's hands," one of the girl's
aunts said outside the courthouse. "Why does [the father] need
supervised visitation? He hasn't done anything to this child."As
he was leaving the courthouse, the step-grandfather said he would not
let anything else happen to the young girl."We're just making
sure the baby is protected," he said, "so that she can heal."