Greene County man accused of putting 1-month-old son in ICU
A 1-month-old Greene County boy is in critical condition after his father allegedly physically and sexually assaulted him.
Zachary Bryte, 26, of Washington Township, was arrested and charged with attempted homicide Sunday after his son was hospitalized with a series of injuries an intensive care unit physician said were consistent with major trauma.
The infant had been taken to UPMC – Greene on Sunday after the parents reported seizure-like activity, said state police Trooper Kalee Barnhart. The boy was then transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W. Va., where the baby was diagnosed with a number of serious injuries, including a skull fracture, brain bleeding, multiple rib fractures and bruising on several parts of the body, court paperwork stated.
Court records show Bryte lives in Washington Township, where he raised the child with his mother, Kyliene Rhome, 24. The alleged abuse appeared to have gone on since close to the child’s birth, Barnhart said.
Police reported Bryte admitted he frequently became upset with his child when the baby was crying or when he needed his diaper changed. In one instance, Bryte told police he was changing the baby’s diaper and started hitting the child, according to court documents.
“Bryte related that he knew he had struck the victim too hard and caused injury,” police wrote in the affidavit of probable cause.
During one incident, the complaint said, he hit his son hard enough to knock him off of the bed and hit his head on a wooden object.
In another incident, which Rhome also confirmed to police, Bryte admitted to hitting the child in the chest, for which she scolded Bryte.
Police said in court paperwork Rhome had noted a decline in her son’s health dating back about two weeks.
Around that time, she told investigators, she’d gotten into an argument with Bryte then heard the sound of a head hitting the bed frame.
“Rhome related that she proceeded to tell Bryte that better not have been the victim’s head,” police write in charging documents.
In police interviews, Bryte said he had fallen while carrying his child on multiple occasions, including one two weeks prior where he said he fell while walking uphill and threw the child toward a landscaping box. His son then rolled down the hill for 15 to 20 feet before striking his head, Bryte told police.
In another instance, Bryte said he fell while carrying his son out of the garage and the child’s head and torso hit a concrete block, police said.
During a diaper-changing, Bryte believed the child was constipated, and inserted an object into the child’s rectum in an attempt to relieve the issue, according to court paperwork. Rhome told police she had not known the child to suffer from constipation, the criminal complaint stated.
Bryte is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault by an adult against a victim under 13, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a victim under 16 and aggravated indecent assault of a child.
He is also charged with endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault.
Judge Leroy Watson denied bail, citing the seriousness of the charges and the child’s safety.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.