Deadbeat "primary caretaker" dad charged with breaking ribs, legs of twin 5-month-old babies (Austin, Texas)

Based on what's reported here, dad JOSHUA REED FARREN sounds like a deadbeat, a chronic liar, and a sociopath--in addition to being a violent child abuser. Doesn't sound like he can even fake concern.

http://kxan.com/2015/04/22/affidavit-austin-father-fractured-infant-twins-ribs-sons-leg/

Affidavit: Austin father fractured infant twins’ ribs, son’s leg

By Eric Janzen
Published: April 22, 2015, 5:25 pm | Updated: April 22, 2015, 8:44 pm

AUSTIN (KXAN) — An Austin father is charged with injury to a child after his 5-month-old twins were found to have several fractured ribs, according to an arrest affidavit. Joshua Reed Farren, 34, is being held in the Travis County Jail on $500,000 bond.

The mother noticed bruising on her son’s face after returning from work around midnight on Nov. 30, and she took the boy to Dell Children’s Medical Center on Dec. 1, 2014, at the request of her pediatrician. Medical staff said infant had eight fractured ribs and two fractures in his left leg.

Doctors then examined the girl and found she had four broken ribs, the affidavit said.

She told authorities that, outside of a few hours on two occasions, she and her husband were the only ones who cared for the twins. Police said Farren was surprised when he learned of his son’s injuries the next day.

“Really, that’s a shocker,” Farren said, according to the document. He also couldn’t tell police where the injuries came from. “I honestly don’t know. You know, unless it’s some way we hold him or something.”

When the officer asked why he wasn’t at the hospital with his wife and children, Farren said his wife had asked him to stay home and get some sleep. Farren then told the officer he had just finished watching a movie when police showed up to his home at 2:30 a.m.

A Child Abuse Resources and Education team said there was no medical history that would account for the twins’ injuries and they were not consistent with birth trauma. The injuries to the boy were likely from shaking or throwing the child, the team is reported as saying.

Despite no longer caring for the children and being unemployed, the affidavit said Farren told detectives he would not have time to meet with them for the foreseeable future. He also declined to provide a statement.

A first-degree felony conviction carries a punishment of 5-99 years in prison.