Father arrested after doctor finds traumatic brain injury in 7-week-old infant

Stock image | Photo by MattGush/iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — A local man was arrested after his 7-week-old infant was transported to the hospital by ambulance with traumatic brain injuries.

On Thursday, Austin Bohler, 25, was arrested and booked on one third-degree felony count of aggravated intentional child abuse. He was arrested following an investigation that was set in motion on Dec. 9 when St. George Police detectives were contacted by a caseworker who forwarded a medical report detailing extensive injuries sustained by a 7-week-old infant.

The report by Dr. Kristine Campbell, a physician at the pediatric outpatient services at Primary Children’s Hospital, was incorporated into the probable cause statement filed in support of Bohler’s arrest.

The report states that the infant suffered a severe intracranial traumatic injury, followed by a secondary hypoxic-ischemic injury that caused symptoms that continued for several days.

An intracranial traumatic injury is generally caused by a sudden, external, physical force, or when the brain strikes the inner surfaces of the skull, causing injuries that disrupt normal brain function and can damage the brain. A secondary hypoxic-ischemic injury is a secondary injury that is caused by the first and disrupts the flow of oxygen to the brain, which causes a decline in brain function, according to Columbia University’s Department of Neurology.

Further, the severity of the injuries can result in permanent brain damage or death due to generalized swelling of the brain caused by trauma, and symptoms may appear immediately after the injury and usually reach a peak within four to six hours.

Campbell reported that the infant, who lived with both of her parents, both of whom were staying home to care for the baby after the COVID-19 shutdowns, was healthy until Nov. 29. On that day, her parents told doctors that she woke from a nap, “cried for food” and appeared irritable for a short time before becoming “floppy and unresponsive” while in the care of her father.

By the time she returned home, the child seemed fine. The couple reportedly watched the baby carefully, and the following day, there was a second episode of “fussiness followed by limp unresponsiveness.”

Austin James Bohler, 25, of St. George, booking photo taken in Washington County, Utah, Dec. 11, 2020 | Photo courtesy of the Washington County Sherriff’s Office, St. George News

In the early morning hours of Dec. 1, the infant was taken to the emergency room and was discharged with instructions for the parents to have an electroencephalogram the following day to evaluate the electrical activity in the brain.

Before the child’s mother could do so, however, the infant began having multiple episodes of “vibrating, twitching and jerking followed by periods of limpness and unresponsiveness,” lasting 5-10 minutes that continued throughout the day.

The mother contacted the primary care on-call service to report her concerns, and according to the medical report, she initially felt it would be reasonable to wait until the following morning to go to the clinic. That changed later that same day when the baby was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after suffering another similar episode. She was subsequently treated at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

At the hospital, doctors examined the infant who was later diagnosed with the severe brain injuries that caused the symptoms the child had been suffering from for several days.

The physician also documented that the child had no history of any injury or reported head trauma, and “in the absence of that,” the doctor wrote, then “abusive head trauma or severe child physical abuse” must be considered as the most likely cause of the injuries.

Further, the doctor wrote, the infant was at risk of suffering from ongoing and escalating injury if steps were not taken to assure the baby’s safety when she was discharged from the hospital.

After reviewing the report, detectives contacted a caseworker with the Department of Children and Family Services who said she would be serving a search warrant on the parents and that a foster parent was on standby to care for the infant.

On Thursday afternoon, detectives responded to the residence on Artesia Drive to speak with the couple regarding the incident, but as soon as detectives asked them to provide a statement, both “invoked their right to an attorney,” the officer noted.

Officers then arrested the infant’s father who was transported to Purgatory Correctional Facility on the above-listed offense. Bohler was released on his own recognizance a short time later.

Washington County Prosecutor Ryan Shaum said the physician’s detailed report and other medical records that were forwarded to detectives provided sufficient evidence to make the arrest, but the incident is still under investigation so no formal charges have yet been filed.

Shaum also said the infant’s father was arrested since he was the parent who was caring for the child when the first signs of distress were reported, and with these types of severe brain injuries, Shaum added, research shows that the onset of symptoms typically happens very quickly.

This report is based on statements from court records, police or other responders and may not contain the full scope of findings. Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2020, all rights reserved.

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