Dad charged after 8-week-old son chokes on baby wipe (Cleveland, Ohio)

The dad is identified as JOSHUA RAINS.

http://news.yahoo.com/dad-charged-infant-son-chokes-baby-wipe-193112023.html

Dad charged after infant son chokes on baby wipe

By Kim Palmer | Reuters – Sat, Nov 12, 2011

CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A Cleveland man was arraigned on child endangerment charges on Saturday after emergency room doctors had to surgically remove a diaper wipe from the throat of his choking eight-week-old son.

Joshua Rains, 25, was arrested Wednesday at the MetroHealth Medical Center after investigators interviewed him about the circumstances surrounding his son's injuries, Cleveland Police Sgt. Joseph Rini told Reuters.

The child was rushed to MetroHealth on Monday with a baby wipe lodged in his throat, blocking his airway.

According to the police report "the father stated while changing the child's diaper he wiped the child's mouth with the baby wipe, and then he noticed the baby wipe had disappeared."

Once he noticed the baby swallowed the wipe he tried to pull it out, "but only jammed it further down the child's throat."

But police said the claim was inconsistent with the baby's injuries.

"He is admitting to putting the wipe in the child's mouth," Sgt. Rini said on Saturday. "Whether it was an accident or done intentionally is what needs to be investigated."

Sgt. Rini also confirmed the infant had previously been hospitalized. At just five-days-old the baby was treated for a detached eye lens, but the incident was not reported, according to the police report.

Rains was arraigned on Saturday on one count of felony endangering children, according to court records. There is no word on the baby's condition from the hospital.

The police report stated the infant was on life support, though on Saturday, the baby's condition was unknown.