Man charged with Child Abuse

Seneca Police report that a 48-day-old baby girl is in critical condition due to abuse. The baby was admitted to the Greenville Hospital System on Tuesday after suffering multiple skull fractures, a broken collarbone, a broken arm, a fractured eye socket, a fractured femur and a spinal cord injury. Investigators responded to the hospital and spoke to the child’s mother, who said her baby had been in the custody of her boyfriend the night before. She told police that she noticed swelling on her daughter’s head and a black eye when she returned home, so she took the child to the hospital in Seneca at which time the child was transferred to Greenville. Police said the live-in boyfriend admitted to dropping the baby on her head and stepping on her on Christmas Eve night after he had been drinking alcohol and using illegal drugs. Police arrested 19-year-old Leroy Morris on unlawful conduct toward a child charges. Morris also admitted that more recently he had become frustrated with the child’s crying and began shaking her before throwing her. The baby is listed in critical condition. Additional warrants will be issued against Morris for inflicting great bodily injury upon a child, said Seneca Police. “Unfortunately, this is one of the worst cases of child abuse I have seen in my 29-year career, and it is unimaginable that someone could do this to a helpless, innocent baby,” said Seneca Police Chief John Covington. “No criminal charge on the books can render justice in this case. We are prayerful she survives.”