State College father arrested for child endangerment, admits to slapping and throwing baby
A State College father was arrested Wednesday on a felony child endangerment charge after telling borough police he slapped, dropped and threw his newborn.
Kyuhyong Park, 30, told investigators he slapped his 7-week-old son’s back “hard” about 10 times, police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. He’s also accused of letting the newborn fall about half a foot backward onto a bed.
A detective wrote Park was “basically dropping him backwards without supporting his head and neck.” Park said he would let his child fall in that manner about twice a week, police wrote.
The detective wrote Park also said he picked the child up with one hand and threw him onto a bed. The newborn’s mother expressed concern about abusive head trauma and took him to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he received a CT scan, police wrote.
No injuries were reported and the newborn was released Wednesday evening, borough police Lt. Chad Hamilton said. No defense lawyer was listed.
Park is enrolled at Penn State as a graduate student in physics.
“The Office of Student Accountability and Conflict Response will review the allegations of misconduct and determine appropriate next steps,” university spokeswoman Lisa Powers wrote Thursday in an email to the Centre Daily Times. “The university may take student conduct action in addition to, and separate from, the charges filed by police.”
Park was also charged with a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person. He was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Don Hahn, who set bail at 10% of $20,000. He did not post bail and is incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 6.
