Belleville man faces battery charges after baby suffers life-threatening injuries
A 20-year-old Belleville man has been charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a child under the age of 1 in connection with life-threatening injuries sustained by his 3-month-old child, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.
Caleb E. Manwelll of Frieda Drive in Belleville was being held in the St. Clair County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.
Manwell is the father of the child, who is being treated in Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis with life-threatening injuries, St. Clair County Sheriff’s Capt. Bruce Fleshren said in a news release.
Should the child’s condition deteriorate, charges against Manwell could be upgraded, the release said.
St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department deputies were dispatched to Memorial Hospital in Belleville on Sunday in reference to a child abuse investigation.
Assisted by the Child Death Investigation Task Force, the deputies began investigating the circumstance of the child’s injuries. The Child Death investigation team included investigators from the Department of Children and Family Services, Illinois State Police and local investigators from O’Fallon and St. Clair County, according to the news release.
The investigation determined the child’s father was the last person with the baby before the baby was injured. At the completion of the investigation, Manwell was arrested, the news release said.
