A Butler County man is accused of abusing his girlfriend’s 20-month-old daughter, whom he was babysitting, by beating her and burning her with a cigarette.
Cody Storm Vaughn, 26, is charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person.
According to the criminal complaint, Vaughn told Saxonburg police the child was hurt when “she fell off the bed headfirst striking an open drawer and then the floor." Police investigators and CYS called it "physical abuse."
The baby’s mother, Darian Kopps, said if she had to do it all over again, she would have never left her baby alone with Vaughn.
“For me, it's something I will never be able to forgive myself for,” Kopps said.
Kopps, told Channel 11 she and Vaughn had dated for two years and he had cared for her baby daughter many times.
“I don’t understand how you can raise a child for two years and wake up and hurt them,” Kopps said. “Her nose was swollen, she had a mark on her cheek. It was circular. And a fat, busted, broken lip.”
Police in Saxonburg say they suspect some of those marks were caused by a lit cigarette.
According to investigators, the baby’s grandmother picked the baby up on June 22 and took her to UPMC in Cranberry Township for an exam. That is when the alleged abuse was first documented. Vaughn was arrested on Sept. 16.
Vaughn remains in the Butler County Prison on $25,000 straight cash bond.
Stay with Channel 11 News and WPXI.com for continuing coverage.