Man charged with battering four-month-old

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

A Greencastle man has been arrested and charged with battery causing serious bodily injury to a four-month-old child.

Justin Miles, 24, has been charged with two Class B felonies for allegations of causing injuries of hemorrhages to the brain and eyes and bruising to the buttocks of a four-month-old that was in his care.

"These charges are as a result of an investigation by the prosecutor's office and the Department of Child Services that arose after the child was treated at Riley Hospital," Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter said.

"Mr. Miles was arrested by our investigator after the court approved an arrest warrant."

It is alleged that Miles battered his girlfriend Brittany Adamson's child while the mother was at work. The incidents were said to have taken place between March 1 and April 11.

The child's head injuries came as a result of an April 11 incident in which Miles called Adamson, who was at work, saying the child had fallen from the couch at their shared residence. The alleged fall knocked the child unconscious.

The child was taken to Putnam County Hospital and transferred to Riley. At Rileyl, Dr. Roberta Hibbard of the Indiana University Child Protection Program reported the child's injuries to Putnam County Department of Child Services caseworker Tim Haltom, who went to the Indianapolis hospital to investigate.

At Riley, the bruising to the child's buttocks was also discovered. Adamson said Miles had told her the baby fell from a child restraint seat on the couch and onto the floor, causing the injuries. The incident had happened about a week earlier.

Bollinger's investigation of the home revealed the fall from the couch would have been less than 16 inches and the fall from the safety seat would have been less than 18 inches. Hibbard told Bollinger the injuries were not consistent with accidental falls of this distance, but of abuse in which a "significant amount of force" was applied.

Hibbard also said the child had hemorrhages of different ages, as well as a fractures of the left ankle and bottom of the right heel. All this indicated a pattern of abuse, not isolated falls.

An arrest warrant was issued for Miles on July 7. He was booked into the Putnam County Jail on July 9.

Miles' initial hearing in Putnam Circuit Court was Monday, with Morgan Circuit Judge James Harris presiding. His bond was set at $30,000 and his pre-trial conference set for Sept. 1.

Sydney Tongret was appointed public defender.

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  • He should not have a bond, PERIOD!

    -- Posted by justanothervoice on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 12:43 AM
  • What is wrong with this court system, I agree, no bond should have been issued. Someone should beat him like that, its so horrible that young people don't concider their children as human beings. They treat them worse than animals, watch them in walmart how nasty they treat their children.

    -- Posted by BTruth1958 on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 1:46 AM
  • Putnam County judges on vacation?

    who is this Hibbard they speak of?

    -- Posted by exhoosier2 on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 6:43 AM
  • Really a four month old. This guy is some kind of sicko and needs to be beat up and hospitalized while tied up, same as an infant...defensless. I too say no bond.

    -- Posted by dcsaiht on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 7:51 AM
  • This person should never be free, again. he should be put away for life. No parole. Maybe they should try cutting his hands off, then he'd never be able to touch a child again.

    -- Posted by wrinklenose on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 8:15 AM
  • Oh "the old fall off the couch excuse". If this happened over a period of time from march 1 to April 11 could mom not tell that something was wrong?

    -- Posted by floyd'srangerriders on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 8:33 AM
  • Just another voice, it is not all young people, and the young people who do these things have had no raising. When did people decide it was wrong to punish children by a spanking? Only after we stopped spanking/whipping our children did we hit a steep decline as a society who really cares for and helps their family and neighbors. From the earliest age people have always learned by pain first and a little bit of pain in children's fifth point of contact might just prevent people from acting like senseless barbarians. I am with dcsaiht, this guy should have both hands severed and released back into the public to show that we will not tolerate such senseless abuse.

    -- Posted by Combat Medic on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 9:03 AM
  • I apologize just another voice, it was Btruth1958 who made the comment about ALL young people.

    -- Posted by Combat Medic on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 9:06 AM
  • sick sick sick

    -- Posted by jakeboy on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 9:12 AM
  • I'd love to have 5 minutes with this clown........"Within inches of his life" is all I have to say.

    -- Posted by BrutallyHonest on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 9:33 AM
  • THIS JERK DESERVES NOTHING............THERE IS A SEAT ON DEATH ROW WITH HIS NAME ON IT....

    -- Posted by Michele1953 on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 10:15 AM
  • Does anyone know how the baby is doing?

    -- Posted by workingmomma on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 11:43 AM
  • Don't let her have the child back. Did't she know there was something wrong here? Couldn't she see the violence or anger taking place?

    -- Posted by dumpsterdiva2 on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 11:54 AM
  • I used to have the mother added as a friend on facebook and all she ever did was whine and complain about her first child and how she never got to have any sleep and never got to do anything, and then she goes around and gets pregnant with the child in this article.

    -- Posted by hoosierloser on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 12:32 PM
  • Wow, real winner here, not. He will probably get a slap on the wrist and walk away.

    -- Posted by YNOTU2 on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 12:35 PM
  • I think this is sick! I can't see how ANYBODY could hurt a child. Children are the most innocent human beings. A four month old can barely do anything! Secondly, I find one comment offensive. Young parents are not ALL bad. I'm a young parent and I have nothing but a blessing with my two year old. What makes a bad parent is how one is raised, selfishness, and maturity levels. Any person of any age can abuse and neglect their kids. I just wish this little sick boy gets what he really deserves for harming something so small and innocent.

    -- Posted by cwilson47 on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 8:12 PM
  • Wow!!! The mother notices nothing (or ignores everything) and the accused comes up with this lame excuse. She should face neglect charges as well. He needs to ne placed in with the regular population at the jail. Let some bad dude find out what he did and have his way with the slime ball. I can only hope that nobody in the family gets custody of the child. I can't believe that no relative or friend of these young people could EVER see anything was amiss.

    -- Posted by Vernie1 on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 9:34 PM
  • This guy is a dirtbag. He deserves the max. punishment. But pull up the mother's facebook account and read what she has to say on her wall. How she still loves this guy and how he just proposed to her a couple of weeks ago..etc. etc. WHO STAYS WITH A MAN THAT HURTS THEIR CHILD AND PROFESSES THEIR LOVE FOR THAT MAN FOR THE WORLD TO SEE?!?!?! Unbelievable!! You can tell what kind of person she is just by her facebook wall. Hopefully CPS takes that child and any other children out of that home for good and places them with a loving caring family!

    -- Posted by putnammom on Wed, Jul 13, 2011, at 11:26 PM
  • Wow. Putnammom is right. And you sure can tell a lot about a person by their Facebook page.... This poor baby should not be in the hands of either of these terrible people. What kind of mother ignores/allows this?

    -- Posted by bannerreader on Thu, Jul 14, 2011, at 2:31 AM
  • From what I heard, the baby has been taken away and is living with the biological father

    -- Posted by hoosierloser on Thu, Jul 14, 2011, at 1:40 PM
  • *

    This has nothing to do with his upbringing, you people don't know anything except what you read. You judge people just by what the paper says! If he was guilty why did it take so long to arrest him, why didn't they arrest him right away! If he is guilty he deserves what he gets, but if he is innocent than may all of you deserve what you wanted to happen to him!!!

    -- Posted by brownie13 on Thu, Jul 14, 2011, at 11:39 PM
  • It's called investigating lpenni13

    -- Posted by jakeboy on Fri, Jul 15, 2011, at 12:05 PM
  • Whatever you might think, it's not smart to suggest we should put child abusers to death. If that were the law, what incentive would these abusers have to not kill the victims of their abuse? Just sayin'.

    -- Posted by Dr_Huang on Fri, Jul 15, 2011, at 3:08 PM
  • lpenni13...I have a hard time believing it has nothing to do with his upbringing when the guy's brother was arrested for the very same thing!!

    Dr_Haung..but if one knew the punishment for abusing a child was getting beat to death they might think twice about doing it.

    -- Posted by putnammom on Fri, Jul 15, 2011, at 6:25 PM
  • Unfortunatly I have met this kid before and could tell something was off with him. Guess I was right! You know you say it may be wrong to say he should get death sentence for what he did but there is nothing at all wrong with him getting life in prison for what he did. It's psyco's like this that end up getting out and doing it over and over bc they got away with it the first time! It's sickening hearing about all these children being abused or killed by their parents or caregivers! The most a 4 month old can do is cry and if you can't handle that you should never be around children. and whoever said why did it take so long to arrest....that's why it is called an investigation so they get all their evidence straight so they can build their case. I agree the mother should have known....she should have noticed as soon as she changed that baby's diaper! I want to know how the baby is doing?

    -- Posted by blessedmommy83 on Mon, Jul 18, 2011, at 5:09 PM
  • I am the baby's step mom and kayleb is doing wonderful. He is sitting up by himself now and has started to crawl about 5 days ago. he is gaining the much needed weight he needs and is doing amazing in the care of his father and I. He still has to go to doctor appointments but they said that he is on the road to recovery. He is a 7 months old now and he is a happy, loving baby! Thank the Heavens that his guardian angel was watching over our precious baby!

    -- Posted by amartin290 on Tue, Jul 19, 2011, at 12:02 PM
  • this sick individual deserves to recieve what he gives. abusing a 4 month old ? i have two grandsons, one is 3, the other is 5 months and this really hits home for me.this dude is a real tough guy. why dont he try beating on someone who can defend themselves...like me! ill show him what broken bones and hemorages feel like. if he did infact commit these offenses, what a spineless, gutless, worm, p.o.s. !

    -- Posted by jse on Tue, Jul 19, 2011, at 10:08 PM
  • by the way, im tired of hearing "it was due to their up-bringing" or "it runs in their family"

    b.s. ! if someone is an adult, who we assume made it through the majority of our public education system, we again can assume that they are a rational, logical, reasoning individual. THEY KNOW RIGHT FROM WRONG! if they do not, then they are probably incapable of rational thought and would probably be commited to an institution. this guy will probably get a slap on the wrist and by the time he is removed from society, a small child will suffer at his hand. childre are the last tiny bit of innocence we have left in this world. why would anyone abuse a child? they trust us to love, protect, and provide for them. all too often, the ones they trust are the ones who hurt them. if he is found guilty, put him in general population in prison. he wont last long there. vidulanty justice still has its place.

    -- Posted by jse on Tue, Jul 19, 2011, at 10:19 PM
  • Why everytime i post a comment it gets DELETED!! For ppl with comments of my sister u DONT know the situation so ur input is mute

    -- Posted by wolfgirl89 on Fri, May 10, 2013, at 12:53 AM
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