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Steven J. Dougherty, 31, of Collingdale, was taken into custody on Tuesday, July 20, after an eight-month joint investigation by Montgomery County detectives and Lower Pottsgrove police, officials said.
Investigators began looking into Dougherty on Nov. 19, 2021, after receiving a call about a severely injured boy who was brought to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said alongside Lower Pottsgrove Township Police Chief Richard Bell.
Child abuse experts at the hospital discovered injuries to the boy's penis and scrotum, as well as significant bruising and abrasions on the boy's abdomen, chest, eyelids, arms, and legs, and multiple bilateral fractures on 14 ribs, authorities said.
Investigators later learned that the boy's school had made a Childline referral on Nov. 18, 2021, after he arrived at school with severe groin pain that required him to be carried to the nurse's office, they said.
"The nurse found that the boy’s penis and testicles were enlarged, red and purple in color, and were “oozing a yellow color," a release states. "He also had dried blood on his leg as well as bruising on his back."
The boy claimed at the time that his mother's boyfriend “is a big, mean bully” and had bought him sneakers as an “I’m sorry gift.” The child's mom, Emily Laster, was called and told to take her son to the emergency room, authorities said.
However, investigators say, this was not the first instance of the alleged physical abuse.
Two days earlier on Nov. 16, 2021, a woman called 911, saying that the boy had climbed into her car and hid in the backseat in an attempt to get away from Dougherty while he was inside a gas station, authorities said.
The boy claimed the man he was with was “trying to cut my pee-pee off and kill me."
Dougherty then got into the 911 caller's car, pulled the boy out, and drove away from the gas station, the woman allegedly told Tredyffrin Township police.
Detectives also learned that the boy had previously been seen at CHOP in June 2021, when he was brought in by his grandparents, who were concerned about his vomiting and diarrhea, they said.
The boy claimed that poop had been smeared on him by his mom’s boyfriend. However, Laster said the boy had had an accident and some fecal matter may have unintentionally been transferred to his face from a towel, authorities said.
Later that year, the boy's grandparents had new concerns, and made a report to police on Oct. 28, 2021, after seeing marks on the child's face, detectives said. The boy had apparently told them “Steven” held his face underwater in an attempt to drown him.
The boy was removed from his mom's home on November 19, 2021, in accordance with a Montgomery County Office of Children and Youth safety plan.
The court-approved plan prohibits contact from his mom and “any recent past caregivers.”
“This is a very disturbing case of physical abuse of a young child by the defendant,” DA Steele said. “Thankfully, the boy is now doing well in the care of other family members.”
Dougherty has been charged with aggravated assault of a child under six, endangering the welfare of a child (duty of care), simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Dougherty posted 10 percent of $10,000 bail and was released, records show. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 9.
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