Dad arrested for abusing 4-month-old daughter during visitation; baby has head trauma, other injuries (Maryville, Tennessee)

Notice that the parents do not live together, and were (probably) never married either. There is not much evidence here that there was ever a commitment to raise a family together.

And yet the sperm donor father is being "involved"--much to the detriment of this baby girl, who now has significant injuries.

Never married, never committed fathers are NOT the same as married/involved fathers. These guys often have trouble bonding, and never do learn how to nurture and care for an infant. They make poor caretakers.

And yet mothers are increasingly required by the family courts to "involve" these guys--even if the "relationship" wasn't much more than a one-night stand. And even when the courts are not involved, mothers are under increasing social pressure to "involve" the father--no matter what kind of person he is. We're told (by fathers rights advocates) that the father's criminal history or history of drug/alcohol abuse should be irrelevant to his custody rights. And we're increasingly seeing the results of that misguided ideology.

Dad is identified as KENNETH RAY SELLERS.

http://www.thedailytimes.com/news/maryville-father-jailed-in-child-abuse-case/article_58aa4820-5cf8-5311-9b86-4093014fc412.html

Maryville father jailed in child abuse case

The Maryville man is being held on $150,000 bond pending a Tuesday court hearing. . Posted:

Saturday, April 12, 2014 12:00 am

By Wes Wade

A Maryville man was jailed on $150,000 bond after his infant daughter was hospitalized with numerous injuries, including head trauma.

Kenneth Ray Sellers, 22, Atchley Apartments, was arrested on a charge of aggravated child abuse. He was being held in lieu of $150,000 bond pending a 9 a.m. Tuesday hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court.

A state Department of Children’s Services (DCS) investigator initially reported the incident to Blount County dispatchers Thursday and requested assistance from law enforcement, according to a Maryville Police report.

A detective responded to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital after learning a 4-month-old girl had been taken to the hospital with several injuries. The DCS investigator told the detective the child had bruises on both thighs and a cerebral hematoma on both sides of her head.

One of the head injuries was recent, while the other appeared to be older, the DCS investigator said. There was petechiae — dark spots caused by bleeding under the skin — on the child’s face and forehead. The infant’s left arm was also possibly fractured.

The child’s mother told police Sellers, the infant’s father, was looking after the child at his residence at Atchley Apartments. When she asked Sellers how the child was injured, he reportedly told her he held the girl’s legs too tight. He also said he went to the bathroom and the baby fell out of her bouncer, the mother said.

Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp said the infant didn’t sustain any life-threatening injuries.

“The child is going to be OK,” Crisp said. “I do know that.”

Crisp said Sellers was quickly identified as a suspect and brought to the Maryville Police Department, where he was interviewed and subsequently charged.