Affidavit: Lufkin man slapped, bit 2-year-old son hard enough to leave marks

ANGELINA COUNTY, TX (KTRE) - Deputies with the Angelina County Sheriff's Office arrested a 32-year-old Lufkin man on Nov. 10 in connection to allegations that he slapped and bit his 2-year-old son hard enough to leave marks on his face and arm while he was in his custody.

Robert Paul Davis was booked into the Angelina County Jail on a felony injury to a child charge. He posted an undisclosed bail amount and was released from the jail later on Nov. 10.

According to the arrest affidavit, the incident occurred on Oct. 11. On that day, an ACSO detective got a phone call from a Child Protective Services investigator in regard to a report about injury to a 2-year-old that was currently in his mother's care.

The CPS investigator showed him a photo taken by daycare personnel that showed what appeared to be a bright red hand print bruise that covered the entire left side of the child's face, the affidavit stated. When the ACSO detective spoke to the child's mother, she explained that Davis has joint custody of their son and that he had custody of the 2-year-old boy the weekend before the injury was reported.

The child's mother told the detective that she and Davis exchanged custody of the toddler at the daycare.

According to the affidavit, the child's mother told the ACSO deputy that the daycare her son goes to called her on Oct. 10 and said her son had a "significant mark" on his face.

Right after the woman got off the phone, Davis allegedly called her and said he didn't know what was going on. He told her that his fiancé had just called him, and he believed that the mark on the boy's face was caused at a baseball park over the weekend, the affidavit stated.

The child's mother told the ACSO detective that she believed the mark was caused by someone slapping the child, the affidavit stated. When the woman met Davis at a hotel parking lot, he told her that if he had known about the injury, he would have kept him from going to the daycare, the affidavit stated.
Davis also allegedly told the child's mother that his fiancé had taken the boy to the daycare that morning.

When the ACSO detective saw the 2-year-old boy in person, he noticed the large bruise on the child's face, along with what appeared to be a large bite mark on the boy's upper left arm, the affidavit stated. Davis allegedly told the child's mother that he bit the baby on the arm and caused the bruise because the baby was having a "biting problem."

The detective also spoke to the employees at the daycare center. They said once they saw that it looked like the boy had been slapped in the face, they wrote down everything that Davis and his fiancé had said and reported the incident to CPS officials. Davis' fiancé told them that she didn't know what had happened to the boy.

One of the daycare employees told the ACSO detective that at first, Davis told her that he didn't know how the mark had gotten on the toddler's face. Later, he allegedly told her that the 2-year-old boy had fallen at the baseball park they went to over the weekend and landed on a woman's purse.

When the ACSO detective spoke to Davis, the child's father said that he said "good bye" to the boy, but he wasn't close enough at the time to see the child's face. Later, Davis allegedly changed his story and said he broke up a fight between his 3-year-old daughter and the 2-year-old boy and told the toddler he should not hit his sister.

Davis then blamed his 3-year-old daughter for the mark, saying that she must have 'retaliated" because the boy had done something to her.
However, Davis did admit to biting the 2-year-old boy on his arm and said it wasn't the first time he had bitten the child, the affidavit stated. He also allegedly told the detective that he had bitten the toddler because the baby had bitten the 3-year-old.

"Robert also stated he did not bite the baby hard enough to cause a bruise but did not appear to be concerned when I stated the bite was hard enough to cause a perfect bruise a day later," the ACSO detective wrote in the affidavit.

Later, the detective talked to Davis' fiancé, and she told him that when she got the two children dressed and ready for school she didn't see a mark on the 2-year-old's face, the affidavit stated. She told the ACSO detective that after she went into the garage to put things in her vehicle, she could hear one of the children crying and telling Davis something, but she couldn't make out what was said.

Davis fiancé told the detective that she noticed the mark on the face when she got to the daycare, and she called the boy's father, who said to tell the daycare workers he would call the boy's mother and explain everything to her, the affidavit stated.

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