LAKE CITY, Fla. – A 19-year-old man was arrested last week on a child abuse charge after his girlfriend's 6-month-old child was injured, the Lake City Police Department said.
Malik Jackson is charged with aggravated child abuse. He was booked into the Columbia County Jail on Saturday, and ordered held on $100,00 bond.
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Late Friday night, the Police Department said it received a child abuse complaint from the Florida Department of Children and Families. According to the complaint, Jackson and his 20-year-old girlfriend took his girlfriend's 6-month-old daughter to a pediatrician, who expressed concern about injuries observed on the infant. In the complaint, police said, staff noted that Jackson and his girlfriend refused to follow the doctor's orders for treatment.
Staff at the pediatrician's office, who police said were concerned for the child's well-being, then contacted DCF, who went to the child's home.
Police said investigators with DCF then took the infant to a hospital, where the child was confirmed to have a recent, trauma-caused break to both bones in her arm. DCF then took protective custody of the infant, and detectives with the Police Department began investigating.
During an interview with the infant's mother, investigators said she told them that she often left her child in Jackson's care. She also said that several times in the past, the infant would return with red marks and bruises, according to police.
When investigators questioned Jackson about the infant's broken arm, he told investigators that it was a "birth defect," police said. During that interview, police said, Jackson also told investigators that the infant had rolled over wrong and twisted her own arm.
Investigators said those descriptions did not match up with the findings from medical staff.
Detectives said they also learned that Jackson is on probation in Georgia, where he is also under court order to have no contact with his girlfriend and to attend anger management classes.
Police said the infant remains in the care of DCF as the investigation continues.