A Deer River man was arrested and charged with two felonies this week after a 2-year-old child who had been in his care sustained a large skull fracture and other serious injuries.
Corey Michael Cloud, 28, is charged with first-degree assault and malicious punishment of a child causing great bodily harm. If convicted on the most serious charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $30,000.
According to the criminal complaint:
Cloud was first questioned Jan. 31 after the Itasca County Sheriff's Office received a report that the 2-year-old was at the Essentia Health-Deer River emergency room with a skull fracture. An emergency room doctor told a lieutenant with the sheriff's office that the child's injuries were not consistent with the explanation provided - that the child had slipped on a wet floor and hit her head.
Cloud initially told law enforcement that he had been feeding the 2-year-old and her 4-year-old sister while their mother, his girlfriend, was at work. According to the complaint, Cloud said the 2-year-old urinated in her chair and that the urine dripped onto the floor. When he went to get a rag to clean up the mess, Cloud said, he heard a thud and found the child lying on the floor near the table, almost unconscious.
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The complaint states that the lieutenant interviewing Cloud believed that the height of the chair and booster seat the child was said to have been sitting on was not great enough to cause the injuries.
Law enforcement also discovered that, in addition to the skull fracture, the child had suffered two fractured ribs, a possible compression fracture of the spine and a lacerated liver. When interviewed again about the incident, Cloud admitted that his original story was not true, and said he had accidentally struck the child in the side of the head with his knee while running up some stairs.
According to the criminal complaint, a pediatric specialist at a Minneapolis hospital told law enforcement that, because the skull fracture was at the back of the 2-year-old's head, Cloud's explanation was not consistent with the "mechanism of injury." Cloud continued to tell law enforcement the injuries were caused by accidentally striking the child with his knee.
The Itasca County Attorney's Office reported that Cloud made his first appearance in State District Court in Grand Rapids on Wednesday; bail was set at $100,000 without conditions, or $50,000 with conditions including no contact with the 2-year-old child or her mother and sister.
Cloud is due back in court on Monday.
The News Tribune contributed to this report.
