Westport man arrested after detectives review video of beating that left infant son hospitalized

WESTPORT, MASS. (WHDH) – A Westport is man facing criminal charges following a beating that left his adopted 2-month-old son hospitalized over the weekend, officials announced Wednesday.

Stephen Kegyes, 32, was arraigned this week in Fall River District Court on charges including three counts of permitting injury to a child, two counts of strangulation, and one count of assault and battery on a child with injury, Westport police said.

According to court paperwork, Kegyes’s husband discovered a video recovered from inside their home that reportedly showed him picking his infant son up by the throat and smothering him on Saturday afternoon.

He then called the adoption agency and turned the video over to the authorities.

“Stephen then reaches down with his right hand and placed it over the baby’s face, smothering him with his hand,” the police report read. “The baby’s mouth and nose were covered by Stephen’s hand which prevented him from breathing.”

The child was brought to Boston Children’s Hospital Saturday after he was said to be having trouble breathing — it was there doctors raised a red flag.

Kegyes said the child had not been the same since receiving routine immunizations but on Sunday, doctors reported that the baby had broken ribs, legs, shoulders and appeared to be abused.

Kegyes is being held behind bars pending a dangerousness hearing on Friday.

“We deny any wrongdoing as alleged in the charges in the complaint,” Kegyes’s attorney said. “Stephen is a loving and caring parent who went through a very long adoption process to adopt the baby.”

The adoption agency says the baby is safe now.

They and the Department of Children and Families are assisting in the ongoing investigation.

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