NEWS

Affidavit: Richmond man bit 2-year-old in face

Mike Emery
mwemery@pal-item.com

A Richmond man was arrested Tuesday on charges accusing him of biting a 2-year-old boy in the face.

Donald Allen Worley, 23, was arrested on a warrant at 10 a.m. Tuesday on a Level 3 felony charge of battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person younger than 14 as well as a Level 3 felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury.

The child had been left in Worley’s care at Worley’s South 16th Street residence, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Worley told Richmond Police Department Detective Tom Legear the child began choking on a piece of candy. Worley said he stuck his fingers into the child’s mouth and the child bit Worley, the affidavit said.

Worley then said he bit the child to make him stop, with the bite being hard enough to break the skin and leave marks, according to the affidavit. Legear could observe a bite mark on the right cheek that contained bruises and distinct markings of teeth about a week after the incident, according to the affidavit.

Legear also noticed an apparent cigarette burn mark on the child’s arm and two other scabs on the child’s legs that could have been burn marks, the affidavit said. Worley admitted to accidentally burning the child’s leg once with a cigarette, then said it was possible he accidentally burned the child twice on the leg, according to the affidavit.

Two other residents of the home told Legear that Worley had admitted to them he had bitten the child, and they said Worley had kept the child in his room for days so they could not see the child, the affidavit said.

Worley remained Wednesday morning in the Wayne County Jail on $25,000 bail, with 10 percent cash required.