A Hagerstown, Maryland man is being held on $1 million bond on charges of beating his girlfriend’s son into a coma after the child ate a piece of birthday cake without permission.
Police say Robert Leroy Wilson, 31, handcuffed the 9-year-old boy to a bed and beat him nearly to death.
The woman’s brother called 911 to report a child having difficulty breathing. But when emergency medical personnel arrived at the scene minutes later, they were met outside the home by the boy’s mother who told them she had just arrived home from work and her son was simply “congested.” She declined to allow EMS to assess her son.
4 hours later, another 911 call was placed from the home on the 500 block of Lynne Haven Drive. This time paramedics were allowed inside the home where they found the 9-year-old boy “unresponsive and not breathing.”
According to WJLA.com, the boy was transported to Meritus Medical Center where he is listed in critical condition with severe head trauma and multiple signs of trauma to his neck, spinal column, abdomen and buttocks.
Some of the wounds were in the healing stages — an indication of past child abuse.
The boy is not expected to regain consciousness.
Police say the mother told them Wilson apologized for punching her son in the stomach for eating a slice of birthday cake. Wilson is not the boy’s biological father.
The woman’s brother told police Wilson handcuffed the boy in his bedroom and beat him in order to teach the boy not to steal.
According to the brother, Wilson tripped and shoved the boy onto the bedroom floor while questioning him.
Wilson was charged with first-and-second-degree assault, child abuse with severe physical injury and reckless endangerment.
A judge set Wilson’s bail at $1 million at a bond hearing on Thursday.
