PROVO, Utah — A father was arrested Tuesday after he allegedly broke his infant child's arm in Provo while trying to get the baby to go to sleep.
According to an arrest report, 24-year-old Adam Chambers Monroe Eaton and his wife brought their 6-month-old to the emergency room at Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Provo early Tuesday morning.
Eaton told hospital staff that this happened around 4 a.m. when he was pinning the baby's arm behind its back while trying to get the child to go back to sleep.
Detectives with the Provo Police Department then interviewed Eaton, who admitted to "being frustrated at the infant and using quick abrupt movements while handling the infant," and while trying to pin the baby's arms down, he heard a loud "snap."
Then, Eaton told police, the baby cried even louder, which woke up his wife. He told her what happened, and she told police that she lifted the baby's arm, then let go, and it fell limp. Both parents said the baby was unable to move its broken arm. The broken bone was the left humerus, according to the report.
At the hospital, doctors informed police that additional scans showed multiple rib fractures in the process of being healed. Eaton then admitted to becoming frustrated sometimes and handling the infant roughly. According to police, he also said he had shaken the baby in the past. However, when asked for more information, they said he denied saying that.
Eaton was booked into the Utah County Jail on one 3rd-degree felony count of aggravated child abuse. He was ordered by a judge to be held without bail.
