Ohio Father Charged After Infant Found With Wipe Lodged in Throat

CLEVELAND – A father who was charged with felony child endangering when a diaper wipe was found lodged in his infant son's throat maintains it was an accident and will fight the allegation, his attorney said Monday.
Joshua Rains, 25, of Cleveland, pleaded not guilty after his arrest last week.

The police incident report said the 2-month-old was unresponsive when an ambulance crew arrived Nov. 7 at the family's home. The baby needed to be placed on life-support, but he was listed in good condition Monday at a hospital.

Rains was charged with felony child endangering and was released on bond after pleading not guilty.

Another court hearing on the evidence was scheduled Nov. 22, and his attorney said Rains would try to show it was an accident.

"Police believe it might be an accident," said his defense attorney, Daniel Margolis. "And it's our contention that it was an accident."

The police report said those at the scene believe "the baby's injuries are not consistent to the father's statement."

The father told police that he cleaned the baby's mouth and then the wipe disappeared.

"Once he noticed the child had swallowed the baby wipe, he tried to pull it out, but only jammed it further down the child's throat," the police report said.

Rains' other children have been placed in county custody, Margolis said.

A person who gave a statement to police at the scene said the infant "was injured when it was five days and when it was treated for a detached eye lens, but never reported to police." The person's name and relationship were deleted from the report before it was released.

Rains could not be reached for comment. The phone number listed in court documents rang unanswered Monday.