The Case History<br >PROBE RESULTS IN CHILD-ABUSE CHARGES*<br > Little David Smith， five months<br >and eleven days old， lies in the Ben-<br >nett Hospital where doctors continue<br >draining from his skull the blood that<br >has not stopped flowing since De-<br >cember 10th.<br > His parents appeared before Cir-<br >cuit Judge Roberts Thursday for a<br >civil hearing on whether their son<br >would be returned to them if and<br >when he is released from the<br >hospital.<br > Before Mr. Smith and his wife left<br >the courthouse， sheriff s deputies ar-<br >rested them and charged both with<br >three counts of aggravated child<br >abuse.<br > Thus culminated a month-long in-<br >vestigation by Sheriff s Detective<br >Jones， who interviewed eight neigh-<br >bors and four doctors before turning<br >over to the State Attorney s Office a<br >two-inch-thick investigative file on<br >the short， painfilled life of the Smith<br >baby. "If these people ever get that<br >child back， I ll feel like turning in<br >my badge，" the Chief Detective<br >said. Mr. Smith and his wife were<br >jailed on $5，250 bond<br > When the doctors realized the<br >seriousness of the baby s head in-<br >juries， they had him rushed to Bar-<br >rett Hospital. There， they had him<br >flown to the Bennett Children s<br >Hospital.<br > The parents said that the baby<br >caused the injuries himself， acci-<br >dentally. Chief Detective Jones said<br >his interviews with neighbors dis-<br >closed a pattern of injuries that the<br >parents maintained the baby caused<br >himself.<br > On September 17th， the mother<br >took the baby to Barrett Hospital be-<br > cause of serious injuries to his face.<br >A doctor thought it was a case of<br >child abuse， and reported it to the<br >Sheriff s Department. A report was<br >made of the incident and was turned<br >over to the State Attorney s Office，<br >but the evidence was deemed to be<br >inadequate to prosecute.<br > In the wake of the baby s near<br >death on December 10th， a child-<br >abuse charge was based on the Sep-<br >tember 17th incident， as was an ear-<br >lier incident that had never been<br >reported to police.<br ><br >