Steven Nichols
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man who claims an iPad fell on his newborn son causing multiple fractures, a burn, and multiple internal and external injuries is now charged with child abuse.
Steven Nichols, 19, is charged with felony child abuse and neglect of his 1-month-old son. Court filings say the boy’s mother brought the baby to St. Joseph’s Hospital last week, after noticing the baby was bruised, constipated, fussy and couldn’t sleep. The woman said Nichols said an iPad propped up on a formula container had fallen onto the boy, while Nichols was watching him.
Doctors found the boy, who was born in early February, had skull fractures, a brain injury, fractured left and right femurs, three fractured ribs, a burn to the boy’s buttocks, liver injury, bruising to the abdomen, thigh, groin, forehead, eye, and spinal bleeding, according to court filings. Doctors said the brain injury is "so significant" the boy would have shown symptoms immediately, and a falling iPad couldn’t have caused all the injuries.
Court filings say the boy was with Nichols from the evening of Friday, March 8 through Monday, March 11, and then had the boy again on March 12. When the boy was returned to his mother on March 12, she noticed the boy wasn’t acting normally.
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During an interview with police, Nichols said he didn’t hurt his child but it "wasn’t unfair" to say he hurt the boy while in his care, saying an iPad fell on the boy.
Later, during a phone call listened in on by police, when Nichols was asked how he thought this was going to turn out, Nichols said he may be going to jail, but that was "cool".
Nichols appeared in court Sunday, and his bond was set at $75,000.