A Rochester man has been charged with a pair of felonies after allegedly biting a 16-month-old several times on the shoulder.
Colin Everett Phillips, 22, faces two counts of malicious punishment of a child; his first appearance in Olmsted County District Court has been set for Nov. 28.
The investigation began in August, when a woman reported seeing a bite mark on the child's shoulder; the boy's mother told the woman that Phillips had bitten the child the day before.
That day, an investigator checked the boy for injuries, the complaint says, and saw "several semi-circles of bruising on Victim's right shoulder, consistent with bite marks."
Phillips told the detective the boy is "a biter," and allegedly admitted to biting the child to show him "biting hurts." Phillips said he shouldn't have bit the child as hard as he did, then said that he shouldn't have bit him at all, court documents say.
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A second woman told authorities Phillips is "too rough" with the boy; she didn't see the biting incident, but heard Phillips say "ouch," then heard the child start screaming. When the woman asked Phillips what had happened, he reportedly said the child bit him, so he bit him back. She tried to take photos of the bite marks, but Phillips "wouldn't let her," the report says.
The woman also claimed Phillips slapped the boy across the face a few weeks earlier, and the handprint stayed on the child's face for about 15 minutes, the complaint says. The woman tried to photograph the handprint, she said, but once again was stopped by Phillips.
A third woman told the detective she'd also seen Phillips strike the child in the face and leave a mark, the court documents say. She allegedly described Phillips as "a very aggressive person," and said the little boy is afraid of him.
