Father Of Baby Crawling On Lakewood Road Charged With Neglect: PD

LAKEWOOD, NJ — The father of the Lakewood baby who was photographed crawling across a street has been charged with child endangerment, Lakewood police said Friday.

Evgeniy Dorman, 41, surrendered himself at the Lakewood Police Department about 1:15 p.m., Lakewood Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith said. Dorman has been charged with cruelty/neglect of child(ren) and released pending a future court date, Staffordsmith said.

The photo of the 10-month-old boy found crawling across Joe Parker Road on Saturday, Sept. 22 by Cory Cannon of Eatontown set off a social media firestorm, criticizing both the parents of the infant and the man who took the photo.

Cannon, who was on his way to work, discovered the baby in the middle of the road, blocked traffic with his truck and as he was tending to the child, he was approached by a nearby resident who took the little boy and returned him to his family. Cannon called police to report the incident, which happened about 6 p.m. (READ MORE: Photo Shows Baby Crawling Across This Lakewood Road)

Cannon later removed his photos from Facebook as he faced intense criticism for snapping the photo of the baby. Other social media commentary blistered the parents.

Staffordsmith said Lakewood Detective Michael Cavallo and Detective Stephanie Bayha of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office investigated and with the assistance of the Ocean County Sheriff's Department Crime Scene Investigations Unit, learned the baby crawled through an open front door and then traveled about 140 feet into the road before he was discovered by Cannon.

The family of the child was unaware that he had left until the neighbor returned him, Staffordsmith said.

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First photo: YouTube