Man admits guilt in baby-wipe case

Tim Preston/The Independent

Paintsville April 07, 2008 11:15 pm

— A man who had denied shoving baby wipes down an infant’s throat last fall entered a guilty plea on charges of second- degree assault and criminal abuse in Johnson Circuit Court on Friday.
Jonathan Crum, 30, originally reported to be from the Tomahawk section of Martin County, was accused of placing the wipes in the 8-month-old boy’s throat while baby-sitting for the child’s mother, Shawna Childers, of the East Point community. Investigators later said Crum lived with Childers.
Crum had initially denied he was responsible for the action, which left the child temporarily unable to breath.
Investigators said the child’s mother had left Crum to watch her son last week while she helped her other child get on a school bus.
Kentucky State Police Detective Mike Goble said the mother reported she returned to her home, where Crum was the only other person present, and found the baby “turning blue” and unable to breathe. Hoping to get the baby breathing again, the mother removed an object later identified as a “Pamper Sensitive Wipe” from the child’s airway.
In addition to Crum’s guilty pleas, the child’s mother also pleaded to second-degree assault and criminal abuse. As part of a plea agreement, the mother will not serve jail time for the charges.
Crum, who will be sentenced May 2, faces a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.