Belle Vernon man charged with abusing 4-week-old
Baby suffered broken leg, arm and ribs
A Fayette County man has been arrested for breaking a 4-week-old baby’s bones in what a doctor called “extraordinary physical abuse.”
Robert G. Radacy Jr., 29, of Henry Street in Belle Vernon is charged with four counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangering the welfare of children.
Police said he broke the baby’s leg and arm as well as multiple ribs.
“Her injuries include nearly every part of her small body,” said Jennifer Wolford of Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC’s child advocacy center, according to an affidavit. “The amount of violence that this child has sustained in her short life is nearly inconceivable.”
Mr. Radacy told a detective from the Westmoreland County district attorney’s office that he “might have been too rough when he put the victim in her car seat because he had to push her arms down.”
The defendant said the baby’s leg injury might have occurred “when the victim could not poop he had to bend her legs up to her belly and he might have been too
rough,” the affidavit said. As for the broken ribs, “he may have tightened the car seat too tight,” according to the affidavit.
Dr. Wolford told police that Mr. Radacy’s explanations would not have accounted for the injuries.
Mr. Radacy told police that he was the baby’s primary caretaker because the mother needed rest. It was unclear from the court paperwork whether Mr. Radacy is the baby’s father.
Mr. Radacy was arraigned Tuesday and is being held on $150,000 straight bond. He faces a preliminary hearing Monday before District Judge Mark Mansour.