Hot Springs man charged after infant suffers fractured skull

HOT SPRINGS, AR – A Hot Springs man has been arrested after his child suffered a fractured skull.

According to reports, on August 9 officials from the Hot Springs Police Department received a call about a 10-week-old baby who had suffered a skull fracture with minor bleeding on the brain. The child’s mother, Christen Hill, told police that she was at work while the child’s father, 30-year-old Shane M. Vandermolen, took care of the child during the day.

Hill told police that when she came home from work, the baby’s head appeared to be swelling on the right side, and that the baby was crying and vomiting. When Hill asked if something happened to the child, Vandermolen reportedly told her that the child rolled off the bed while they were both asleep.

The child was flown to Arkansas Children’s Hospital for treatment. Doctors told police that the child suffered abusive head trauma and had multiple serious injuries that could not have been sustained after a fall from the bed.

Police went to the residence and measured the distance from the top of the bed to the floor below, and reported that the height was about 2 feet and 2 ½ inches. Verdermolen told police that he was the only adult in the house with the child. He was charged with first degree domestic battery.

The investigation is ongoing.