Tuscarawas County, Ohio - Detectives say a Uhrichville man has been arrested and charged in connection with the hospitalization of a 2-year-old child.

Detective Adam Fisher of the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office says they arrested 21-year-old Joseph M. Sanders at his residence Tuesday on two counts of endangering children and one count of felonious assault. 

Fisher says the charges are the result of an investigation into the hospitalization of a 2-year-old child on November 21st for life-threatening injuries. 

“The Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office received a call from staff at Union Hospital reporting that a 2-year-old child had presented to the emergency room with several injuries on and about the body, and those injuries were inconsistent with the stories the mother was providing to them as to how they had occurred,” he says.

Fisher says preliminary interviews with hospital staff prompted them to open an investigation into suspected child abuse with assistance from Tuscarawas County Job & Family Services. He says during the investigation they determined that Sanders was the individual responsible for caring for the child during the time that the injuries would have occurred. 

Fisher says the injuries to the child included  “several bruises on and about his body as well as several other abrasions and at least one burn.” 

The child was ultimately life-flighted to Akron Children’s Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He says the child remains hospitalized but is expected to make a full recovery. 

“The child is still in the hospital recovering from the injuries, and as of yesterday has a very good outlook and is doing very well in his treatment,” he says.

Fisher says Sanders is not the father of the child but the mother’s current boyfriend. He says the injuries are believed to have occurred at the mother’s residence outside of New Philadelphia.

Fisher says the suspect was taken into custody without incident, and a court date is pending for later this week. He says JFS will be responsible for determining the placement of the child once he is released from the hospital.  

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV