A 32-year-old Racine man faces a felony charge of child abuse after an investigation revealed his child suffered a “spiral fracture” of his arm in June.
The felony filed Tuesday in Racine County Circuit Court against Thomas G. Lybek carries a fine of $50,000 and 15 years in prison.
Lybek was scheduled to make his initial appearance in court Tuesday.
According to the criminal complaint:
An investigator with the Racine Police Department was contacted June 4 by the Racine County Human Services Department. The human services employee stated a 3-year-old had been brought to Ascension Hospital for an injury that was not consistent with what the child’s mother stated.
The woman stated her son was not following the defendant’s instructions at lunch, and Lybek became frustrated and upset. At one point, he grabbed the child by the arm in a pulling/twisting motion and continued to pull in an attempt to get a fork out of the child’s hand.
When the child woke from his nap June 1, he was complaining and crying about his arm until June 4 when he was taken to the hospital. The physical examination revealed the child’s upper right arm was bruised and swollen and the break was definitely a “spiral fracture” that could only be caused by pulling/twisting and not from a fall.
A preliminary hearing has been set for 8:30 a.m. August 8 in front of Racine County Court Commissioner Alice Rudebusch.
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