Man Charged For Child Abuse After Stepson Arrives At Hospital Covered ‘Head To Toe’ With Bruises

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A man from Eagle Mountain Utah was booked into jail for child abuse after his 2-year-old stepson arrived at a hospital with critical injuries that included bruising over his whole body.

According to a statement of probable cause, a police officer responded to Primary Children’s Hospital early Wednesday morning on a report of serious physical abuse.

The police officer said that he observed a 2-year-old boy who, “was covered head to toe in very dark purple bruises…Bruising was seen on the child’s cheeks, chin, forehead, and even bruising on the inside and outside of his ears.”

Other injuries on the child made it appear as if the child had been grabbed “and his arm put under extreme pressure.”

The family reported that the boy had fallen down some stairs, but, medical staff were, “convinced the bruising was consistent with severe abuse and not consistent with a fall down the stairs,” according to the PC statement.

The boy’s stepfather, 26-year-old Alec Marshall Blair of Sandy, said to police that he put the boy down for a nap and when the child awoke he then fell down the stairs.

At the time, Blair was the only one at home and photos provided by the boy’s mother showed that the child was not injured the day prior to the incident.

The boy’s mother said that when she left for work on Monday the child was crying and Alec said: “If you throw up on me I am going to choke you.” She said the boy seemed fearful of Blair the last few weeks and said Tuesday “daddy Alec smacked my face.”

Police noted that the boy’s injuries are not consistent with Blair’s account and the injuries could only have happened during the time the boy was alone with Blair.

Blair has been booked into the Utah County Jail and now faces one count of child abuse resulting in serious physical injury as a second-degree felony.