A 18-day-old Mayfield boy remains under medical care after authorities say his father's rough handling Sunday caused bleeding in the child's brain and eyes.
Evan Dinning, born Oct. 15, was listed in fair condition Thursday at the Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Danville, while the boy's father, Donald Paul Dinning, 41, remains in Lackawanna County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Mr. Dinning told authorities on Monday that he picked up his son forcefully Sunday afternoon, snapping his head back after the boy wouldn't stop crying, police said.
"I was frustrated," Mr. Dinning said when questioned by a detective. "Nothing I did worked."
The boy's dad admitted that his aggravation got the best of him while the boy's mother, Kristen Kastawa, had left him at home with Evan and another child while she went grocery shopping. Unable to calm Evan, Mr. Dinning allegedly admitted to authorities that he was too rough with the boy.
Later Sunday, an ambulance took Evan to Moses Taylor Hospital in Scranton. After the boy continued having seizures at the hospital, he was transferred to the Danville facility.
A pediatric nurse at Moses Taylor told a detective that Evan's legs "twitched" while hospital staff tried to help him. Doctors at the Geisinger hospital found bleeding in the boy's brain and eyes and identified his injuries as "life threatening" but said he was expected to survive.
A Geisinger pediatric abuse specialist in Danville said the boy's condition was "highly suggestive of abusive head trauma."
Mr. Dinning's preliminary hearing on two counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangering the welfare of children is scheduled for Wednesday.
Contact the writer: rward@timesshamrock.com, @rwardTT on Twitter