Portsmouth father charged after infant placed on life support

Posted to: Crime News
Login or register to post comments

By Steve Stone
The Virginian-Pilot
© February 21, 2008

PORTSMOUTH

The father of a 7-week-old girl has been charged with child abuse and neglect after the infant was taken to a hospital and placed on life support for treatment of severe trauma earlier today.

Janice Westerbeck, a police spokeswoman, said the child's biological father took her to Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center early today. Doctors there later had her transferred to Children’s Hospital of The Kings Daughters in Norfolk.

Westerbeck said investigators would not release any details about the nature of the trauma.

The father was identified as Aaron Michael Bennet, 31, of the first block of Afton Parkway. He was arrested at 3:50 p.m., Westerbeck said, after investigators from the police department's Special Victims Unit were notified and went to both hospitals as part of their investigation.

Bennet is being held at the city jail.

The investigation is continuing, Westerbeck said.

COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here.
- Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.