Mountain Home, AR. – A man was arrested after he punched his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter in the face.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a 4-year-old girl had to be taken to the emergency room at Baxter Health after she couldn’t see. She stated that she had tried to go to the bathroom but couldn’t see how to get there and started crying. Her mother woke up to the sound of her crying and saw that her daughter’s face and neck were red and swollen which caused the little girl’s eyes to swell shut. By the time they arrived at the hospital, there was visible bruising and swelling on the girl’s face, neck, head, and ears.
After the 4-year-old was asked what happened the girl stated that 23-year-old Austin Helms of Mountain Home, and boyfriend to the girl’s mother, had hit her, and then she made a fist and a motion to her face showing what he did. During an examination, police noted that doctors found more bruising on her arms, hands, legs, back, bottom, and feet. A CT scan and X-rays did show that there were no broken bones or internal injuries.
During an interview with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division, the 4-year-old told them that Helms had punched her and said that she had accidentally broken his phone which caused him to hit her hands. The 4-year-old is still under the care of and is being watched by a doctor from the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock to make sure her injuries heal.
Austin Helms was charged with a Class Y felony of battery in the first degree, this class of crime in Arkansas is the most serious crime not punishable by the death penalty. Helms is now being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on a $150,000 bond.
