NEW: Man arrested after toddler found burned, bruised, needing surgery

WEST PALM BEACH
A 2-year-old, who returned home in May with burns to an arm and foot, a black eye and bruised intestines, was rushed to an intensive care unit for surgery.

The toddler had spent the weekend with a Riviera Beach man who claimed the injuries were the results of “play fighting.” Authorities called it aggravated child abuse.

Timothy Alvin Tatum Jr., 21, was arrested Friday on a child-abuse charge. He was released the next day on a $10,000 surety bond, Palm Beach County Jail records show.

The 2-year-old spent the weekend of May 5 with Tatum, the woman who brought the toddler to a hospital told West Palm Beach police.

The relationship of the child to Tatum and the woman is redacted from police records.

The alleged abuse happened at the home of Tatum’s girlfriend. The address for that home was redacted from an arrest report.

Tatum told authorities the toddler was injured when he picked up the child that Friday. He said he had been the 2-year-old’s main caregiver the entire weekend.

Authorities noted the child had a black eye and a welt on the forehead. The child was first taken to an emergency room, where doctors determined the toddler’s injuries required surgery.

Doctors learned the child had a lacerated kidney, as well as a bruised liver, colon and pancreas.

Tatum claimed he’d accidentally hit the child in the face while they were “play fighting.” That’s how the toddler sustained the bruised eye.

As for the welt on the forehead, that was from falling off the couch and into a coffee table, Tatum said. He couldn’t explain the extensive bruising to the child’s back, chest nor the burns on the child’s armpit and foot.

A doctor determined the child sustained second-degree burns from a hot cigarette lighter. The bruises, the doctor said, were from intentionally inflicted blunt force.

A judge ordered Tatum have no contact with the child nor with the child’s mother.