QueenZone discussion #1120566

A former lineman on the Pulaski High School football team is facing felony assault charges after police say he beat his 18-month-old daughter and burned her with cigarettes because she would not stop crying. Fulton City Police Investigator Michael Batstone said today it was the worst case of child abuse he had seen in his 15 years with the department. "I've never seen bruises on a child like that. Never, ever," Batstone said. He said the child, who was treated at Oswego Hospital and released, was doing remarkably well, given her ordeal. "She's a cute little girl," Batstone said. "Just a little button." Robby Guppy, 17, of 604 E. Broadway St., told investigators Wednesday that he has an anger problem and can't control himself. He said he punched the baby in the head with a closed fist five times on Friday night because she would not go to sleep. He said he burned her on the hand and ear lobe with a lit cigarette, causing second-degree burns, because she would not stop crying. "I hit her as hard as I could," he told police. "I also shook her hard every time I got mad at her. I'm sorry. I can't help myself. I mean, I don't want to punch myself. That would make me madder." In his statement to police, Guppy said the child's mother dropped the child off at his house Friday afternoon so she could attend Harborfest. He said after the toddler's mother left, he tried to get her to sleep and she kept crying. "She would not stop," Guppy said. "She gave that cry that drives me up a wall. It is like the thing that pushes my anger button. I got mad and I spanked her on the butt but that did not work. She kept crying. I made a fist and I punch her in the head a few times. She did not stop, but, when this happened, when I hit her, I could not hear her cry. I could only hear my heart beat. I just left her in the room." Guppy told police the child stayed in the room for 10 to 15 minutes and then came out on her own. Guppy said friends came over a few hours later and he played video games with them until 4:30 a.m. Saturday. He told police when he moved the toddler to a love seat in the living room at about that time, she woke up and started to cry. He said, again, she wouldn't stop. He said he fixed her a bottle, which she refused to take and she "cried like forever." Guppy said he again got angry. "I slapped her in the face with an open hand four, five or six times. I totally lost control. I hit her all over. I don't know why." He said she finally cried herself to sleep and he then went to bed, waking up at noon on Saturday. "I hit her several times throughout the day all over her body. I did this with an open hand. I only punched her on Friday with a closed fist and I only hit her five times in the face." Guppy said a friend came over again on Saturday and he and his daughter went over to the friend's house to play video games again. He said it was around 10 p.m. and he was trying to put his daughter to sleep and it was "not working out." Guppy said the child was crying and he was in the bedroom with her. "I was smoking a USA Gold cigarette. (She) was again screaming and would not stop. I again lost control, I was yelling at her to shut up and stop crying." He told investigators the toddler was on her back on a bed when he grabbed her by her arms and picked her up. "I shook her, hard, I was mad. She still would not stop crying. I did not know what to do. I got madder. I took my cigarette and pushed the lit end against her hand. I told her to stop yelling. (She) screamed, She would not stop. I then put her on her side, I put the lit cigarette behind her ear lobe. I only held it against her face for a little bit. I kept yelling at her and slapping her. I was upset she would not stop. My anger went away. I stopped hitting her and I just let her cry." Guppy said that again, the child cried herself to sleep. "On Sunday, I was kinda nice to (her)," he said to the investigators. "Believe it or not." In his statement, he told police that when his grandmother saw the child on Sunday, she expressed concern about the bruises on her body and was angry with him. Guppy said he told her that the toddler had fallen down the stairs. "Gramma told me she had never seen any child that bruised up before from falling down." Guppy said the child's mother came and saw her on Sunday and also expressed concern. Again, he said the child fell. The child remained with Guppy until Monday evening, when she was picked up by her mother. Guppy was arraigned Wednesday night by Fulton City Court Justice Jerome A. Mirabito on one count of second-degree assault, a felony; and one count of third-degree assault and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors. He was sent to the Oswego County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash or $10,000 bail bond.