A 22-year-old father of three is accused of assaulting his youngest son last year to get back at his girlfriend and the man he believes is the boy’s biological father.
Ryan Asan, who has no fixed address, allegedly admitted in a phone conversation with his girlfriend and mother of his children that he “intentionally hurt” the 3-month-old boy in October.
He was arraigned Monday before Bristol Township District Judge Robert Wagner Jr. on aggravated and simple assault and endangering the welfare of children. He was released on $100,000 unsecured bail.
Bristol Township police were called to the couple’s Marion Avenue apartment on Oct. 18 for a report of an unresponsive baby. The child was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, then St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia for treatment.
A home health nurse working the overnight shift at the apartment to care for the couple’s 20-month-old son told police that Asan, a 2-year-old and the 3-month-old were sleeping in a bedroom. Court papers do not say why the boy requires nursing care.
The nurse said that at about 2 a.m. she heard the baby cry and shortly afterward, Asan emerged from the bedroom, went to the kitchen where he prepared a bottle and grabbed a clean diaper, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Before returning to the bedroom, Asan asked the nurse if his girlfriend had returned home, and he “appeared annoyed,” when the nurse answered no, the affidavit said.
An hour later, the nurse heard the baby cry again, and Asan again prepared a bottle and retrieved a clean diaper from the kitchen. After he returned to the bedroom this time, though, the nurse heard the baby’s “loud straining screaming” abruptly stop, which she found strange, police said.
A few seconds later, Asan reportedly came out of the bedroom holding the limp baby boy in his arms, and telling the nurse there was something wrong. The nurse had Asan call 911, and she performed CPR on the baby until the paramedics arrived, police said.
Police twice interviewed Asan after the incident and both times were told he had no idea how his son was injured, court documents show.
“Ryan said he believed that a plastic toy thrown by (the baby’s) 20-month-old brother and contacting (the baby) in his head was probably to blame,” according to the affidavit.
But Asan later allegedly told a Bristol Township police officer that the boy was probably not his biological son.
In February, police spoke with the man whom Ryan reportedly suspected was the biological father of his 3-month-old son. The man told police that a month after the child was hospitalized, he was present during a phone conversation between Asan and his girlfriend, and heard Asan claim he “intentionally hurt” the boy to get back at them.
Police had pediatric child abuse experts review the medical records for the boy to learn what caused the child’s injuries. In April, the doctors reported that the injuries and conditions were the result of non-accidental trauma or child abuse, court documents show. The doctors found “acute hemorrhages” were caused a “few hours to a few days” before the baby was hospitalized.
The affidavit did not provide the current condition of the boy, who turns 1 at the end of this month.
But the baby was removed from the custody of his parents the day after the injury under a court order; since he was removed, the boy has not exhibited any similar or additional injuries of unknown origin police said.
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