Weeks Before Assault, Caseworkers Tried To Protect Montco Infant

BRIDGEPORT, PA — For the past two months, caseworkers in Montgomery County said they did everything they could to protect newborn baby Landon Rohloff, whose father now faces attempted murder charges after police said he severely beat the infant.

They said that his father, Bridgeport's Dan Rohloff, had a long history of mental instability and was possibly under the influence of drugs, according to a criminal complaint. Police said Rohloff was "strange and unusual" in the maternity ward back in May when Landon was being born — and though few specifics on the incident were given, the behavior was so disruptive that law enforcement officers removed him from the hospital.

>>Bridgeport Father Severely Beat Infant Son: DA

And it wasn't the first time that Rohloff exhibited dangerous behavior. In 2010, he was sentenced to two to five years behind bars for sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl, according to court records. That followed earlier convictions for DUI and receiving stolen property.

In the weeks that followed Landon's birth, the county's Office and Children and Youth attempted to develop a safety plan for the child, the complaint states. However, both Rohloff and Landon's mother resisted these plans, refusing to consider any option in which Rohloff had to leave their shared home, police said. Rohloff also refused to take a drug test or undergo further mental health evaluation, even weeks after the court first ordered him to do so.

In early June, working through county court and under pressure from caseworkers, the parents agreed to an altered safety plan in which the child's grandmother would serve as a "safety plan resource," providing supervision to Rohloff while he was alone with Landon in their Jefferson Street home, according to the complaint.

Despite these efforts to protect Landon, there was nothing to stop Rohloff on the night on July 26, when officials said he got in a verbal argument with Landon's mother and threw a beer bottle after her.

In the moments that followed, Rohloff yanked the child away from her by his arms, police said. The mother repeatedly yelled for Rohloff to give her the baby back, and threatened to get a Protection From Abuse order to keep Rohloff away, according to authorities.

Eventually the mother left the home and drove to a nearby park to get away from Rohloff, while the child's grandmother slept in another bedroom in the home, police said.

Alone with Landon, home security footage captured Rohloff covering the cameras with towels shortly before a baby's screams were heard, according to authorities. Over a several hour period that evening, police said Rohloff beat Landon at least two separate times, leaving him with a spate of horrific injuries: broken ribs, brain bleeding, and other internal trauma.

He was treated at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. His current condition is not known.

Rohloff, meanwhile, was booked at Montgomery County Correctional Facility on $1 million bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 9.