EVANSTON — A 26-year-old Evanston man, Harry Townsend, has been charged with one count of felony child abuse. According to a court affidavit filed on Tuesday, Jan. 28, an infant was taken by ambulance to Evanston Regional Hospital (ERH) on Dec. 19, 2024, due to “being unresponsive and non-breathing.”

The responding law enforcement officer was notified by ERH staff that the child, born in 2024, “had two subdermal bleeds discovered from a CT scan,” and that “the bleeds were indicative of trauma.”

The child was inconsolable and struggling to maintain adequate oxygen levels, according to court documents, requiring LifeFlight to transport the infant to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

While the emergency room doctor at ERH did not observe external injuries on the child, it was reported that brain bleeds were likely due to two separate incidents, according to the affidavit. “One possibly a few weeks old, and one being within the last 24 hours” — and likely from “non-accidental trauma,” the affidavit states.

The attending nurse, according to the court document, also told law enforcement that “the physician believed that the baby was hit hard or shaken.”

The child was developmentally described as “non-mobile, not walking, not crawling or pulling themselves up.”

Townsend, who shares custody with the child’s mother and has a roommate, was with the child on the day of the purported incident, court documents state.

During the subsequent investigation, it was discovered that Townsend had been charged with felony aggravated child abuse in 2018. The officer also previously documented bruising incidents on the infant child after a complaint by the child’s mother two weeks prior on Dec. 2, 2024.

The affidavit directly quotes a report from Safe and Healthy Families stating that “inflicted trauma must be considered the most likely cause for [the child’s] injuries.” 

The court document further reads that “the subdural and retinal hemorrhages in infants are not associated with minor household falls ... that the injuries are not plausibly explained by accidental injury, preexisting medical illness, or benign handling of an infant. And, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, these injuries should be considered consistent with severe inflicted trauma.”

Townsend, currently housed at the Uinta County Detention Center, has a $50,000 bond. He has waived his right to a preliminary hearing and is awaiting arraignment in district court. If convicted, Townsend faces up to 25 years in prison, and/or a $10,000 fine.