Indiana Man Allegedly Bit 'Ungrateful' Newborn, Called Baby 'Evil' And ‘Little B****’ In Hospital: Officials

Mar. 16 2023, Published 3:38 p.m. ET
An Indiana man was arrested months after his 2-week-old baby was found suffering apparent bite marks all over her body, police said.
On Nov. 3, 2022, Gavan Rogers, 24, went to a hospital in Lebanon with his newborn baby and the child’s mother for the baby’s checkup, The Lebanon Reporter reported.
Staff at the hospital became concerned when they noticed bite-shaped bruises on the baby’s knees, wrists and shoulder, court records show.
Rogers, who lives with his parents in Greencastle but was living with the child and her mother since the child's birth, told hospital staff that the bruises must have occurred when he “play bit” and “open-mouth kissed” the infant too hard, according to The Lebanon Reporter.
Hospital officials transferred the baby to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis and alerted the Indiana Department of Child Services, officials said.
According to The Lebanon Reporter, some of the nurses grew concerned about the baby and the child's parents when they were at the hospital for the birth as well as during the baby's stay in the neonatal ICU.
Court records state some of the nurses were “not comfortable sending this baby home to the care of the father” and they heard Gavan call the baby “ungrateful” and “little b****” and say she was “evil.”
In the affidavit, Whitestown Police Detective Joseph Turney said, “These injuries could only have been inflicted while using excessive force, which would have caused severe pain to the (victim)."
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Rogers was charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury and domestic battery resulting in bodily injury and is being held in the Boone County jail without bond.
He is scheduled to appear in court on March 17 for his initial hearing, officials said.
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