Bensalem Police announced Monday that charges have been filed in the death of a child resulting from abuse suffered when he was an infant.
The child’s father, Kyle Hinkle, 38, of Allentown, has been charged with third-degree murder after police say the abuse the boy suffered as an infant caused his death.
The initial abuse case happened in October of 2012, and the boy died in August of 2024 in Oliver, Pennsylvania.
An autopsy determined that the boy’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head and neck resulting from abuse he suffered in 2012 when he was three months old.
Bensalem Police said they were contacted in 2012 by the Bucks County Department of Children and Youth after a patient at Aria Torresdale was diagnosed with bleeding in the brain and retinal hemorrhages, which medical staff and police deemed highly suspicious for abuse. A CAT scan revealed new and old injuries in various stages of healing.
The infant was transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital’s ICU where doctors determined that his injuries were “caused by significant force consistent with abusive head trauma,” police said.
Hinkle admitted to shaking the infant multiple times that morning because “he was unable to stop the child’s crying and did so without supporting the infant’s head,” police said.
Hinkle pleaded guilty to charges of Aggravated Assault, Endangering the Welfare of Children, and Simple Assault, for which he served two years in the county prison and three years of supervised parole and probation.
Based on the autopsy results, the Bucks County District Attorney charged Hinkle with the boy’s murder.
On Monday, District Justice Michael Gallagher issued a warrant charging Hinkle and Bensalem Police took him into custody at his workplace with the assistance of Allentown Police.
Hinkle was arraigned and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility in lieu of 10% of $2,000,000 bail.