Englishtown Teen Finds Mom's Boyfriend Beating Toddler Twins, Police Say

ENGLISHTOWN, NJ — On Monday, March 20, a 16-year-old Englishtown teen came home from high school to find a disturbing scene: His toddler brother was being shaken so violently by his mother's boyfriend that the boy's head was hitting the floor and bleeding, police said.

When the teenager tried to intervene, he himself was punched in the face by the man, Englishtown police said. The man was home on house arrest for a prior arrest.

Christopher McMillan, 24, was arrested Monday at the home on Tennent Avenue. As Patch has exclusively learned, McMillan was babysitting the 3-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, that afternoon. Their mother was at work. They are not his children. When the woman's older son, 16, came home from school, he told police he found McMillan standing over the 3-year-old boy and violently shaking him. The boy's head was repeatedly slamming against the ground, and he was injured on his head, face and back, police said.

When the teen stepped in to stop McMillan, the older man punched the teen in the face, police said, giving him a black eye. McMillan had been previously arrested for a Feb. 21 burglary in Englishtown, as Patch reported here, and at the time of the alleged child assault he was on house arrest and was fitted with an ankle monitor, police said.

At some point, the teen called 911, and that's when police arrived. Not only was the boy injured, but the toddler girl was very bruised as well, with abrasions on her face, back, chest and arms, according to Lt. Peter Cooke of the Englishtown police department.

When questioned, McMillan admitted he dragged the toddler girl up the stairs at some point, police said. He is also charged with hitting her in the face.

"Those injuries probably occurred when he dragged her upstairs," said Cooke. "The man said he was trying to discipline them and put them in a time out."

"We told them, thank God this older brother came home that day," Cooke said. "He very well may have saved his little brother's and sister's life."

The toddlers and the teen boy were taken to a nearby hospital. CT scans were done, and the toddler boy showed no signs of neurological damage. He did however require staples in his head. None of the children were admitted to the hospital.

McMillan was arrested and charged with multiple counts of child endangerment, as well as aggravated assault and simple assault. He is currently held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution without bail.