HARDIN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Hardin County Sheriff's Office says its Criminal Investigations Unit received information about a two-month-old who was at the Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville with three bilateral healing rib fractures.
According to officials, in coordination with Child Protective Services, they met with the mother of the infant at the hospital, where she identified the infant's father as a possible suspect.
Officials say they responded to the home of the father, identified by police as Austin Webster. During an interview, he reportedly told police that the infant had been experiencing "gastrointestinal discomfort and bowel issues."
According to officials, Webster told police that he attempted "a technique he had seen on social media in hopes of relieving the child's symptoms."
Webster, according to officials, "acknowledged that he handled the infant in a rough manner and that his actions likely caused the rib fractures."
Officials say that Webster was arrested and charged with second-degree criminal abuse.
He is lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center.
