Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Dad arrested for abusing 5-month-old son; baby in critical condition (Lincoln, Nebraska)

Sounds like another scumbag who tried to blame the baby's injuries on a toddler. Nope, just another short-tempered dad.

Dad is identified as RAAD S. AL-MASAUDI.

http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/police-baby-critical-after-dad-hurt-him/article_bc572cb8-97a5-5296-bc75-f174f21a1019.html

Police: Baby's condition critical after dad hurt him

November 21, 2013 11:25 am • By JONATHAN EDWARDS / Lincoln Journal Star

A 5-month-old boy is fighting to live a week and a half after his father allegedly beat him, causing several brain bleeds, Lincoln police said.

Raad S. Al-Masaudi was arrested at his home at 4111 X St. just before noon Wednesday, Lancaster County jail records show.

Prosecutors charged him with felony child abuse Thursday, and Lancaster County Judge Timothy Phillips set his bond at 10 percent of $500,000, meaning he'll have to post $50,000 to get out.

Al-Masaudi, 43, called his wife at about 6:30 p.m. Nov. 12 while she was grocery shopping to tell her that her 23-month-old daughter threw a fit and head-butted their baby and knocked him out, Officer Katie Flood said.

He said the baby went limp and stopped breathing, Officer Brytten Sorgenfrei said in an affidavit.

Al-Masaudi said he tried to revive his son by doing CPR, Flood said.

The mother returned to the house, and they took the infant to Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, Sorgenfrei said.

Doctors found several brain bleeds and think his injuries don’t jibe with Al-Masaudi’s explanation of what happened, Flood said. They think someone hurt him on purpose.

A rescue crew took the baby to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, where his condition “significantly declined” and a doctor found he suffered a cerebral injury, subdural hematomas and retinal hemorrhages, Sorgenfrei said. She, too, said the injuries suggested abuse.

The baby's mother, day care provider and baby sitter told investigators he was fine when they were with him earlier in the day, Sorgenfrei said.

The 23-month-old girl told police Al-Masaudi abuses his 5-year-old daughter and gets mad when his baby son cries, Sorgenfrei said in the affidavit. “The father was the only one caring for the child at the time, and the only one who witnessed any symptoms,” Flood said of the Nov. 12 incident.

A Lancaster County Juvenile Court judge removed the 5-year-old and the 23-month-old from Al-Masaudi’s house Friday, and prosecutors are pushing to terminate his parental rights, court records show.

Al-Masaudi said in a Sept. 12 Facebook post that he had gotten married. A week earlier, he posted photos of the baby and wrote: “Fun playing with my boy today!”