LEXINGTON COUNTY, SC (WIS) -
Lexington County Sheriff's Department detectives on
Monday arrested a 33-year-old Gaston man on charges that he
threw a 17-month-old boy across a room at his Gaston home, causing the
boy to lose consciousness. The man also is accused of shaking the boy with
extreme physical force, causing the boy to suffer seizure-like convulsions.
Sheriff James R. Metts said
detectives arrested Jason Daniel Sightler, 33, of Gaston, on an arrest warrant
on a charge of inflicting great bodily injury upon a child.
An arrest warrant alleges that at about 5 p.m. on
September 26 Sightler threw the 17-month-old boy across a room at Sightler's
Gaston home, causing the boy to lose consciousness, Metts said. Sightler then
placed the boy in a bathtub in order to try to force the boy to regain consciousness, according to the warrant.
Sightler picked up the boy and used extreme physical force to shake the boy several
times, causing the boy's eyes to roll back into his head and resulting in
seizure-like convulsions, according to investigators.
The arrest warrant further alleges that the
17-month-old boy was taken to a hospital, where a physician determined that the
boy suffered a subdural hematoma and retinal hemorrhaging, Metts said. The
physician further determined that the hematoma and hemorrhaging were consistent
with blunt force trauma that was intentionally inflicted upon the boy, according to investigators.
The suspect injured the 17-month-old boy while he
temporarily cared for the boy in order to assist the boy's mother, who is
acquainted with Sightler, Metts said. Sightler previously cared for the boy on
several additional occasions. The mother did not pay Sightler to care for the
boy, Metts said.
The 17-month-old boy received medical treatment at a
hospital and later was released, Metts said. The boy currently is living with
relatives and not his mother.
Under South Carolina law, inflicting great bodily
injury upon a child is a felony that carries a maximum punishment of 20 years
in prison.
Sightler was being
held on Tuesday, October 2 at the Lexington County Detention Center on a
$75,000 bond.
Metts asked anyone with information about additional
instances in which Sightler may have interacted improperly with children to call the
Lexington County Sheriff's Department at (803) 785-8230 or CrimeStoppers at
1-888-CRIME-SC. Citizens also can provide information anonymously by accessing
the Crime Tip link on the Sheriff's Department web site (www.lexingtonsheriff.com).
Copyright 2012 WIS. All rights reserved.
Jason Daniel Sightler (Source: Lexington County Detention Center)
