A Florida man was arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse after allegedly cutting his 2-year-old cousin in groin.
The arrest of the 29-year-old suspect, Timothoes Powell, occurred Monday before he was charged with the first degree felony and put on $100,000 bail, USA Today reported. (RELATED: Man Walks Free Under Zero-Bail Law After Allegedly Transporting 62 Pounds Of Cocaine)
Powell tried to circumcise his cousin on Oct. 17, the New York Post reported, citing police.
Powell told the baby’s mother that he noticed that his cousin was “bleeding from his penis area as glass had entered his diaper” and that he had tried to wipe the glass and blood away but this caused skin to break off, Fox 35 reported. The baby’s mother was out working when she received Powell’s call, the outlet noted.
Florida man ‘tried to circumcise’ 2-year-old cousin while babysitting, police say https://t.co/DmfisCb31M
— FOX 35 Orlando (@fox35orlando) November 2, 2023
The baby was taken to the hospital where the skin was glued to repair the damage, but the hospital staffers noticed that the wounds were suspicious and reported the matter to the police, the New York Post reported.
Powell told the police that there was glass in the diaper and that it is possible that he “pulled (the boy’s) penis downward with too much force” and then wiped the child “very hard” out of frustration, Fox 35 reported. Powell insisted to the police that his intention was not to harm the child, the outlet noted.
Police consulted with a senior nurse from the Child Protection Team who doubted Powell’s story. She testified to the police that the injury looked “much too clean and precise to be accidental in any way” and got a second opinion that confirmed her view that the wound was too precisely made to be accidental, the outlet reported.
The nurse speculated that this was an attempted circumcision. Home surveillance footage obtained by the police show Powell changing his cousin’s diaper and walking away with an unknown object, Fox 35 reported. The child was already screaming and crying before Powell returned with another diaper, and another video shows Powell being apparently frustrated as he was maneuvering the diaper, the outlet reported.