Dad with "temporary custody" charged with assaulting infant son; baby has severe, permanent brain damage (Hagertown, Maryland)

As is typical with the media, the custody arrangement is not explained well. We're merely told that dad DARRYL XAVIER TALLEY JR. had some sort of "temporary custody" after Mom had dropped him off. Hardly a day passes before this POS "allegedly" beat the baby nearly to death. As it is, the baby is not expected to regain consciousness due to the severe skull fractures and brain injuries. Was this custody/visitation arrangement court ordered? If so, by whom?
http://articles.herald-mail.com/2012-06-22/news/32373948_1_child-abuse-redacted-report-hagerstown-man

Bond set for Hagerstown man charged with first-degree child abuse

June 22, 2012|By DON AINES | dona@herald-mail.com

Bond was set at $200,000 Friday for a Hagerstown man charged with first-degree child abuse in a March incident that left an infant with permanent brain damage.

Darryl Xavier Talley Jr. caused “severe physical injury to Kaleb Marcello Adams ... the defendant being a parent who has temporary care and custody of said child,” the indictment alleged.

The 1-year-old child sustained the injuries between March 22 and 23, the indictment said.

A Washington County grand jury also indicted Talley, 25, of 1317 Jay Drive on charges of first- and second-degree assault and second-degree child abuse. But Assistant State’s Attorney Arthur Rozes told Washington County Circuit Court Judge John H. McDowell that could change if the child dies.

“That’s another ball game,” Rozes said.

First-degree child abuse and first-degree assault both have maximum sentences of 25 years, McDowell told Talley during the bond-review hearing.

“The condition of the victim ... is extremely serious,” Rozes told McDowell.

The child was taken to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., shortly after the incident, but Rozes said he had since been transferred to a long-term care facility “because he can’t be sustained without equipment.”

The child sustained two distinctive skull fractures on either side of his head, and one side of his brain is dead, Rozes told the judge. The other side of the child’s brain was also badly injured, he said.

The Herald-Mail earlier this year obtained a copy of an investigative report on the incident from Hagerstown police. The redacted report did not contain the names of Talley or Adams, but indicated the child had fractures to each side of his head and that “the entire right side of his brain was dead.”

That report also said the boy will require constant care and medical intervention to survive and “has no chance to ever regain consciousness.”

A doctor told investigators that the injuries were “non-accidental blunt force trauma,” possibly from the child’s head being smashed against something, according to the investigative report.

The name of the victim was not mentioned during the bond hearing.

The child was initially taken to Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown on March 23, the report said. The child was accompanied by several people, including his father, the father’s girlfriend and leaseholders of the residence where they all lived, it said.

The boy’s mother was also at the hospital and told police she had dropped the boy off at the Jay Drive residence on March 21, the report said.

The redacted report said that a man, whose name was blacked out, was interviewed by police and the interview moved “into an interrogation phase.” The man denied any knowledge of how the child was injured, or whether he was responsible and asked that the interview be ended, the report said.

The room in which the child and several people lived was described in the report as “extremely dirty: dirty diapers scattered throughout, a bottle of Captain Morgan liquor on the floor ... prescription medication on the dresser, trash.”

Talley’s first court appearance is scheduled for July 5.