Connecticut state police have arrested a 22-year-old Pomfret man who is accused of abusing a baby.
Zachary Beausoleil has been charged with risk of injury to a minor and he has been ordered to have no contact with the victim and no unsupervised contact with minor children, according to the arrest warrant.
The investigation started on Aug. 4, 2023, when a 1-month-old baby girl was brought to the emergency room at Day Kimball Hospital because she had not eaten for a while.
Medical staff found several brain bleeds and several rib fractures in various degrees of healing, according to the arrest warrant. The baby also suffered a traumatic brain injury and had a liver laceration and other injuries, police said.
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The baby girl was flown to UMass Memorial Hospital because of the extent of her injuries and detectives from the state police Eastern District Major Crime Squad were called in to investigate.
When police spoke with Beausoleil, he told them that he woke up to the baby crying around 5 a.m. on Aug. 1, 2023, and he fell while holding her after he stepped on broken glass but did not see any injuries and thought she was OK, according to the arrest warrant.
Three days later, the baby wasn’t eating and she was “acting a little off,” so they called the hospital and were told to bring the baby in.
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As police investigated, they reviewed Beausoleil’s cell phone and said they found web searches beginning on July 16, 2023, a couple of weeks after the baby arrived home after birth, that were related to cracking ribs in infants and broken ribs in infants, the arrest warrant says.
On Aug. 3, 2023, he researched “fluid filled bump on baby’s head,” the warrant says.
On Dec. 6, 2023, Beausoleil’s attorney gave police a statement from his client. The redacted version says that there were complications with the baby’s birth and arguments.
He also said he couldn’t understand how the baby suffered her injuries and only weeks later did he think someone else could have possibly caused them.
Beausoleil was held on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at Danielson Superior Court on Tuesday.
