Arkansas man faces battery charge after boy, 3, treated for multiple injuries, tests positive for marijuana

Robert Hathcoat
Robert Hathcoat

HOT SPRINGS — A Hot Springs man faces felony charges after a 3-year-old boy he was baby-sitting earlier this year was found to have multiple injuries and tested positive for the presence of marijuana.

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Robert Michael Hathcoat, 26, who lists a Ramble Street address, was taken into custody at 10:15 a.m. Wednesday and charged with second-degree domestic battery, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.

According to an affidavit, Hot Springs police were notified Aug. 3 of a child who had been treated at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for an injury to his scrotum and the inability to urinate. The child was said to be under Hathcoat’s care at his residence when he was injured.

The boy also was found to have multiple bruises in various stages of healing, including bruising under his right eye, on the right side of his forehead, on both arms, his back, buttocks and outer right thigh. The injury to his scrotum was noted to have “purple/red bruising with marked swelling.”

Dr. Karen Farst said in a medical report that the “totality of patient’s injuries are considered. Physical abuse is suspected.” A drug screen of the child also revealed he tested positive for the presence of marijuana, according to the affidavit.

On Aug. 19, the child’s mother and Hathcoat, her boyfriend, were interviewed at the Hot Springs Police Department. Hathcoat admitted he was baby-sitting when the child was hurt, but he said the boy injured himself by playing on a toy box and by falling into a coffee table, the affidavit says.

Hathcoat also admitted he smokes marijuana at the residence, according to the affidavit, but he denied smoking marijuana in the presence of the child.

The mother also said her son’s scrotum injury was from a toy box and the head injury was from a table. She also admitted she smokes marijuana, but not in the presence of her son, according to the affidavit.

When asked about her son’s access to marijuana, she said, “it’s not likely, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility,” according to the affidavit. Neither Hathcoat nor the mother could explain the additional bruising found on the victim.

The medical report said it would be “highly unlikely that an event that basically resulted in the child sitting on the edge of the toy box in a straddled position would have the potential to cause this degree of injury.”

Hathcoat was released on $4,500 bond and is to appear Nov. 29 in Garland County District Court.

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