Man charged with fracturing 8-month-old son’s skull

A Slatington man has been charged with fracturing his 8-month-old son’s skull, arms and legs when the baby wouldn’t stop crying.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Detective Gregg Dietz of the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office in the case against William Santiago:

On June 13, Dietz was assigned an investigation into the injuries of an 8-month-old boy after the child was taken to the emergency room.

The doctor had determined that the child had sustained a number of fractures, including a fractured skull, fracture to the seventh rib, left humerus bone, right radius, right ulna, right tibia, left femur (which was categorized as an acute buckle fracture) and two left tibia fractures.

A further examination on June 28 identified an additional fracture not included in the initial report to the child’s right femur.

The fractures were deemed to be “nonaccidental trauma” and to have occurred up to about 42 days before, based on the level of healing.

On June 19, police interviewed the child’s mother. Santiago, 29, was scheduled to be present but had not been heard from for two days, according to the child’s mother.

She spoke with Santiago after the child was admitted to the hospital and he threatened to crash his car into a tree. She told police he told her “to have his back, and to stick to the story.”

The woman told police that when the infant was around Santiago “my son cries like he is killing him when he sees him.”

Santiago said the child only wants to be held by its mother and says he is a “mama’s boy.”

The victim’s mother said there was a time around May 7 when Santiago was responsible for watching the child alone because she had to work and he didn’t have to work until the afternoon.

The child was sick with an ear infection and was “very uncomfortable.”

The injuries occurred around that date.

On July 3, Santiago was interviewed and admitted to being the person who caused the injuries to his son. He said he was the only person who was responsible; and it was around the weekend of May 8, which was actually May 10-12.

Santiago described being in the bedroom with the child and said he wouldn’t stop crying.

He said he got angry, grabbed him, and caused the injuries to his legs and arms.

After the interview, Santiago spoke with the child’s mother and told her he was the person who did this and when she asked about the child’s skull fracture, Santiago told her his head hit the fan in the bedroom when this was occurring.

Santiago faces charges of endangering welfare of children and aggravated assault.

He is currently incarcerated in the Lehigh County Jail in lieu of $20,000 bail, and is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on Friday at the Lehigh County Courthouse.