SPARTA, Mich. — A man facing child abuse charges is speaking out about the accusations against him.
David Steiger said the injuries his one-month-old baby sustained may have partially been due to an accident caused by a diaper change.
The 19-year-old father spoke about his situation from jail, saying he missed his little boy and his wife Chelsea.
“He looked like an angel and he smiled and as soon as he was born, he grabbed my finger,” said David. “I love her and I miss her, and I hope that she`ll forgive me for whatever that I`ve done.”
Sparta police say David Steiger is somehow responsible for 19 broken bones in Jaxon’s body.
The little boy is only about a month old.
The injuries are something David has partially admitted to, although he said it was not on purpose.
“Wasn`t possible, I didn`t do it on purpose. It wasn`t intentional,” said David.
“When I was changing his diaper, and he crosses his legs up and brings them up to his chest and I was kind of pushing his legs down to put the, strap the diaper up, and I thought like, it was just like me popping my finger, but I guess not, his little leg just popped,” said David.
Police say that popping sound was the baby’s femur and tibia breaking.
Court documents FOX 17 obtained early in the week indicated David gave police the same account, he also told detectives at one point that the baby had fallen off the couch.
David told us he eventually noticed Jaxon’s leg was sore and took him in to get checked out at the hospital.
However, when the employees there realized how many bones were broken, they barred Chelsea and David from Jaxson’s room and contacted police.
David said he was surprised they were kicked out.
“Because I brought him as soon as I found him. As soon as he was starting to cry, I touched his leg and he`d scream and I was the one who was like, ‘Hey, I need to take my son to the hospital, something`s wrong’.”
David said his grandmother had driven up from Georgia to support him, but had to return due to illness.
His thoughts are now with his wife and son, his only family in Michigan.
He’s also thinking about what he might say to Jaxon if he could talk to him again.
“That I love him more than anything in this world and I love him `til the day I take my last breath,” said David.
David is being held on a $100,000 bond.
He faces charges of first-degree child abuse.
David said that he hoped that Jaxon would eventually be returned to his mother, Chelsea.
However, CPS is investigating the case.
