A Franklin man is facing a felony aggravated assault charge in connection with an incident in which a child was significantly injured earlier this year.
Charges were filed Wednesday against 20-year-old Cleo McKinney Jr. following an investigation by the Franklin Police Department.
A criminal complaint filed through district judge Matthew Kirtland’s office said police were notified of a 21-month-old girl being admitted to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh with trauma to the back of the head and bruising on Feb. 23.
Detective Kevin Saragian and officer Bradley Barnhill launched an investigation, which revealed McKinney was with the child when her injuries were suspected to be sustained, the complaint said.
The child’s mother, McKinney and the child were sleeping in the living room of an apartment on Chestnut Street in Franklin when the mother went downstairs to do laundry, leaving McKinney alone with the girl, the complaint said.
Another woman sleeping in the bedroom later was awakened by the sound of the child screaming, the complaint said.
She witnessed McKinney jumping off the couch very quickly and throwing a blanket onto the floor, while the child moved off the couch and ran to her screaming, the complaint said.
The child’s mother noticed a goose egg on the back of her daughter’s head and that her neck was swollen, so she rushed her to the hospital, the complaint said.
Injuries suffered by the child included diffuse swelling around the entire circumference of her head, facial bruising, internal bleeding and more, the complaint said.
A child advocacy doctor at UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh told Saragian in March that there was no way the injuries were the result of an accident. The doctor said the injuries would have occurred from the child being picked up by her hair with extraordinary force, the complaint said.
Through interviews, Saragian and Barnhill learned that McKinney had reached out to a man in Clintonville the night of the incident to try to leave town because he knew the child’s mother would be pressing charges, the complaint said.
The man told police that McKinney described the incident as playing with the child and her hair got caught in the couch when he had tried to help her back up, the complaint said.
McKinney has been charged with a first-degree felony count of aggravated assault as well as misdemeanor counts of simple assault, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.
He was arraigned Thursday before Kirtland and placed in the Venango County jail after failing to post $65,000 straight bail.
A preliminary hearing in the case has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday in Central Court.
