OSCEOLA MILLS – An Osceola Mills couple has been accused in what a Geisinger Medical Center doctor has called the “worst case” of child abuse he’s ever seen in a three-week-old infant.
Aaron John Mills, 32, of Osceola Mills has been charged by state police at Clearfield with aggravated assault, F1; aggravated assault, F2; conspiracy/endangering the welfare of children, M1; endangering the welfare of children, M1; simple assault, M1; recklessly endangering another person, two counts, M2; and use/possession of drug paraphernalia, M.
Stephanie Diane McGuire, 22, also of Osceola Mills, has been charged with conspiracy/endangering the welfare of children, M1; parent/guardian/other commits offense, M1; recklessly endangering another person, M2; and use/possession of drug paraphernalia, M, two counts.
According to the affidavits of probable cause, on March 1 McGuire took her infant daughter to a doctor’s appointment to be examined for a diaper rash at Geisinger Medical Center, Philipsburg.
She was examined and diagnosed with bruising to her forehead, the tip of her nose and the left side of her abdomen. She had a severe diaper rash with a prolapsing rectum. The infant was transported to Mount Nittany Medical Center by ambulance.
The same day, she was transported to and admitted for treatment at the Geisinger Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital in Danville, Pa.
She was diagnosed with multiple areas of abrasions and excoriation over the face and flank of right great toe; several bruises over the head, abdomen, right arm and legs bilaterally; excoriated and denuded perianal region with deep perianal furrows and anal prolapse; a left, fourth anterior rib facture; and bilateral, medial and lateral metaphyseal corner factures of the femurs.
In a phone interview with state police on Friday, Paul J. Bellino, M.D., Geisinger Medical Center, stated that, “This was the worst case of child abuse in an infant of this age that he has ever seen.”
In particular, the injury to the infant’s mouth and nose would have created an “extreme” amount of blood loss and pain, Bellino told state police.
According to state police interviews with Mills and McGuire, the infant was in their sole care at their residence on Edwards Street in Osceola Mills. Both stated that she wasn’t in the care of anyone else between Feb. 26 and March 1 when these injuries occurred to her.
Mills allegedly admitted to pulling the infant girl up off the changing table by her ankles forcefully and causing injuries to her legs while caring for her Feb. 26. According to the affidavits, both Mills and McGuire failed to seek immediate medical treatment for the infant for her severe diaper rash and injuries.
Bail has been set for Mills and McGuire at $100,000 and $50,000, respectively. Their preliminary hearings have been scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday during centralized court at the Clearfield County Jail.