MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man is facing felony charges for allegedly causing bodily injuries to a three-year-old girl in his care this week, according to court documents.
Court documents indicate that the Muncie Police Department began investigating a possible child abuse incident at a daycare based in Middletown after being contacted by a representative of the Department of Child Services.
Employees at the daycare first noticed bruising on the three-year-old on Wednesday, Oct. 11. The workers reported this to DCS, which stated that the daycare employees did not observe any of the bruises on the three-year-old juvenile the day before. The daycare also reportedly informed DCS that the juvenile had been dropped off at the daycare by a man named Khalil Lewis.
Lewis was in a relationship with the juvenile’s aunt, according to court documents. A detective with the police department observed photographs, which court documents said revealed the extent of the bruising that was visible.
A large bruise could be seen on the right buttocks of the juvenile and her upper right thigh area. Significant bruises could also be seen on the girl’s face, specifically concentrated around the right and left cheekbones, forehead and upper right brow, court documents said.
Scratches were also observed on the juvenile’s ribs on the right side of her body.
Court documents go on to state that the child allegedly told DCS that “daddy beat me” when she was asked what had caused all of the bruises to appear. She also said during the forensic interview that “daddy spanked me” and that she was in pain while pointing at the bruising that had formed on her face, according to court records.
Lewis later said during an interview with police that the juvenile always referred to him as “daddy” or “the daddy.”
Detectives learned upon further investigation that Lewis and the juvenile’s aunt were the only people whom the juvenile would have been in contact with in the days prior to the daycare calling DCS.
The juvenile’s biological father was still in rehabilitation at the time the incident was first reported to authorities, leading detectives to conclude that Lewis would have been the only male in her life that she could have been calling “daddy.” Lewis also told investigators that the juvenile had been in his or the juvenile’s aunt’s care since August of this year.
Lewis allegedly told police during the interview that his two-year-old child could have caused the bruising. Detectives Lewis had been speaking with responded by telling him that the bruising observed on the juvenile’s buttocks was “large and in the shape of a large hand.”
Officers also spoke with the juvenile’s four-year-old cousin, who told them that the three-year-old girl had received a “whoopin,'” when asked if anyone in the household had been punished for anything.
Detectives concluded their investigation by determining that the bruising would have likely occurred at a home in the 2900 block of S. Franklin Street between Tuesday, Oct. 10 and Wednesday, Oct. 11.
Lewis was arrested and taken to the Delaware County Jail where he has been preliminarily charged with a level 5 felony of battery on juvenile with bodily injury.
