HYOGO (TR) – A 29-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly assaulting his 1-month-old son because he “wouldn’t stop crying” at the home they share in Amagasaki City, reports Fuji News Network (Sept. 23).
Hyogo Prefectural Police arrested truck driver Masaki Maeda on suspicion of attempted murder after he assaulted his son and left him with a fractured skull at the residence at around 9 p.m. on September 19.
Maeda denies murderous intent, and was quoted by police as saying he “accidentally dropped [the boy] and he wouldn’t stop crying, so I punched him seven or eight times.”
The boy is receiving treatment in an intensive care unit at a hospital with serious injuries, including a fractured skull and an acute subdural hematoma, or bleeding in the brain.
Repeated abuse
The boy’s mother was not at home during the incident in which the father took the boy to his crib and rolled him onto his stomach before assaulting him.
The matter came to light on September 21 after a child consultation center reported finding wounds on the boy’s body to police, who are investigating whether the suspect was routinely abusing him.