Anthony Hildreth (Jacksonville Sheriff's Office).
A Florida man is accused of inflicting 25 bone fractures on a baby in his care, with cops saying he admitted to "squeezing" the child's ribs repeatedly "in an attempt to relieve gas" after becoming "frustrated" with the infant.
Anthony Hildreth, 31, of Jacksonville, told police he was unhappy with himself "due to being unable to soothe [the child]," according to an arrest report.
"Anthony advised that [the child] was crying and he became frustrated by that," the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says in the report.
Hildreth allegedly admitted to "conducting several techniques in an attempt to relieve gas" on the night of June 30 after the child — placed in his care that evening — began crying. A woman who watched the baby during the day reported that he was "gassy" but appeared to be uninjured and normal, per the arrest report.
"One of these techniques included squeezing the ribs starting from light pressure to more pressure until he passed gas," the report says. "Another technique utilized by Anthony was 'bicycle kicks,' where he would push [the child's] legs to his chest."
Hildreth told police he used these techniques several times throughout the night to soothe the infant. "Anthony noticed that [the child's] breathing was different after he squeezed his to release his gas," the arrest report says.
Around 3 a.m., the woman — who was also at the home and had been sleeping — woke up to the baby crying. "Anthony then notified [the woman] he was worried about the breathing as it appeared to be abnormal," according to police. "Anthony furthermore stated he could have caused the rib fractures by the amount of pressure he utilized when squeezing near the ribs to release gas."
The child was brought to a local hospital due to the breathing issues and medical staff reported that he had 24 fractures to his ribs and a fracture to his right femur near the knee. Police were notified and made contact with Hildreth and the woman.
"Anthony was unsure of how the fracture to the femur was caused," the arrest report says. "Anthony stated [the child's] leg got stuck in the swaddling device unknowingly and he did not notice until he pulled harder on the swaddling device. Due to the severity of the fractures caused to [the child] Anthony was arrested for aggravated child abuse."
Hildreth was released on a $50,003 bond and placed on home detention with electronic monitoring. He has entered a plea of not guilty.
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