An Old Forge man faces multiple charges after authorities said he assaulted a 5-month-old baby.
Steven Brownlee, 27, formerly of 150 Harrison St., called 911 on Aug. 28 stating the baby was semiconscious and having trouble breathing, Lackawanna County detectives wrote in a criminal complaint. Old Forge police and emergency responders arrived and transported the infant to Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton.
Detectives learned Brownlee was the baby’s sole caretaker that morning. He stated the child vomited and then lost consciousness after the mother left for work.
While at the hospital, medical staff reported the infant was alert, crying and showed no outward signs of injury, detectives wrote in the complaint. However, they noticed neurological symptoms and sent the child off for a CT scan, and determined the baby had a subdural hematoma, or bleeding between the skull and the brain. He was transferred to Janet Weiss Children’s Hospital in Danville by LifeFlight for further treatment, where he underwent surgery and was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit.
Law enforcement took custody of the baby at the children’s hospital and allowed supervised visits with the child’s mother, Deanna Ostroski, according to detectives. Brownlee was asked to leave the hospital and not have contact with the infant.
Ostroski told detectives she was awoken by the baby the morning of Aug. 28, gave him a bottle, then woke Brownlee and told him to tend to the baby as she went to work. The baby’s mother added he was fine and drinking a bottle when she left for work around 6:50 a.m., but Brownlee called her at 7:50 a.m. and told her the baby wasn’t responding. She told him to call 911.
Detectives later learned the baby had been taken to the emergency room due to vomiting in April and Ostroski told authorities Brownlee spanked the then-4-week-old baby. A referral was made to ChildLine at the time. They also learned of three other incidents in which Brownlee struck or grabbed the baby.
Mark Ostroski, the baby’s maternal grandfather, told detectives Brownlee told him at the hospital he did not know how the baby suffered from blood on his brain and he did not shake him.
But Brownlee later demonstrated to Mark Ostroski how he was “playing rough” with the baby because he likes it that rough, demonstrating to him how he swung the baby from his feet upside down, causing his head to snap back and forth.
Dr. Paul Bellino, a physician at Janet Weiss Children’s Hospital, conducted a consultation and concluded that based on the baby’s injuries, symptoms, social history and prior ChildLine referral, a diagnosis of abusive head trauma should be considered.
Lackawanna County District Attorney Brian Gallagher said in a news release Brownlee fled to Tupelo, Mississippi, after the Aug. 28 assault. Gallagher’s office located him with the help of the United States Marshals Service and law enforcement in Mississippi, and Brownlee was taken into custody on Wednesday. He remains incarcerated pending extradition to Lackawanna County, Gallagher said.
Detectives charged him with three felony counts of aggravated assault, felony endangering the welfare of children and a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.
“This conduct is abhorrent. If you hurt a child, no matter where you run, we will find you, bring you back, and hold you accountable. We will work with our law enforcement partners anywhere and everywhere to ensure that justice is served for that child,” he said in a statement.
The investigation was conducted by Lackawanna County Detectives Michelle Mancuso, Sheryl Turner and Jack Kane, the Old Forge Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police Forensic Services Unit and the Lackawanna County Office of Youth and Family Services.
Gallagher thanked the detectives, U.S. Marshals Service Task Force Officer Marty Connors, the Marshals Service, and law enforcement in Mississippi for their collaboration and assistance in the investigation.