Dad Who Bit Newborn Daughter at Least 6 Times and Claimed She Was 'Ungrateful' Is Sentenced
Gavan Rogers took his baby to the hospital, where staff found "mouth-shaped bruises" and teeth marks on the newborn
Boone County Sheriff's Office
Gavan RogersAn Indiana father will serve jail time after he reportedly bit his newborn daughter, leaving teeth marks on her body, and then claimed he did so because she was "ungrateful."
Gavan Rogers, 26, pleaded guilty to domestic battery resulting in bodily injury to a person less than 14 years of age in court on March 28, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
As a result of the plea agreement, Rogers was sentenced to three years behind bars with one year executed and two years on supervised probation.
In Nov. 2022, Rogers and a woman took a 2-week-old baby to an Indianapolis hospital, according to a police probable cause affidavit obtained by the Washington Times Herald, WXIN and WTHR.
The hospital alerted the Indiana Department of Child Services to "mouth-shaped" bruises and teeth-marks on the newborn’s shoulder, forearms, stomach, knee and leg, per the Washington Times Herald. When questioned about the bruises, Rogers reportedly told hospital workers that he may have “open mouth kissed” the newborn too hard, per WXIN.
However, after inspecting the photos of the bites, Whitestown Police Detective Joseph Turney said in the affidavit that the "injuries could only have been inflicted while using excessive force, which would have caused severe pain to the [victim]," per the Times Herald.
Nursing staff at the hospital told police that they were hesitant to send the baby home with Rogers after he was overheard calling the baby “ungrateful,” “evil” and a “little b----,” per the affidavit obtained by the outlets. They also noted that Rogers seemed to get frustrated when the baby would start to cry, per WXIN.
One nurse said in a report, per the outlets, that she was “not comfortable sending this baby home to the care of the father of the baby."
During an interview with police, Rogers said he intended to give the baby “love bites” but “nibbled too hard” on the child while she was fully clothed, according to WXIN and WTHR.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
PEOPLE reached out to the Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department for comment.
Rogers was arrested on Mar. 14, 2023 on charges of neglect of a dependent and battery, the outlet reported. Rogers received credit for the three months he served in the Boone County Jail and nine months at the Boone County Community Corrections, according to court documents.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
