This Was The Worst Child Abuse Case I've Ever Worked: Troy Cop

TROY, MO — A Troy father was charged with three counts of child abuse causing serious physical injury after his 11-month-old son was hospitalized with bite marks, a broken nose, ruptured ear drums and other injuries.

Brandon Johnson told authorities he fell asleep on the couch in his apartment on Thursday night with the baby next to him, police said. When he awoke around 5 a.m. the next day, both he and the child were drenched in blood, he said. The boy's mother, Kristen Hopper, came home around 7 a.m., and at 8:30 a.m. Johnson asked his mother to come over, detective Tony Stuart said. She contacted police.

Officers found the child with significant bruising, cuts to the head and face, human bite marks on his body, blood from inside both ears and the nose, and significant injuries inside his mouth.

"In my 16 years, this is the worst physical child abuse case I've ever worked," Stuart said.

The infant was flown to a St. Louis hospital and placed in protective custody. A brain scan showed no signs of brain damage, the investigator said.

Lincoln County prosecutors charged both Johnson and Hopper, who was charged with one count of the same crime. Johnson was jailed on $250,000 cash-only bond and Hopper was jailed on $100,000 cash-only bond. Neither had an attorney.

It wasn't immediately clear whether state child welfare workers have dealt with the family before. A spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services said information about specific child abuse and neglect investigations is confidential under state law.

Troy, a town of 12,000 residents, is 60 miles northwest of St. Louis.

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