State College Man Accused of Endangering Infant

Police on Wednesday arrested a State College man accused of forcefully slapping his infant son’s back multiple times and throwing him on a bed.

Kyuhyong Park, 30, is charged with felony child endangerment and a misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.

Park told borough police that he grew frustrated that his seven-week-old son was not falling asleep and slapped him hard on the back about 10 times late Tuesday night at a residence on Waupelani Drive, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

He said after placing the baby in a crib, he put his thumb over the child’s mouth to keep him quiet, police wrote. Park also admitted that at one point he picked the baby up by the clothing with one hand and threw him onto a bed, according to the complaint.

Park told police that about twice a week he would place the child’s feet on the bed then let him fall backwards 6 to 8 inches without any support to his head or neck, according to the complaint.

Concerned about her child’s safety and worried about possible shaken baby syndrome, the infant’s mother took him to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he received a CAT scan.

The baby was treated and released, Lt. Chad Hamilton said on Thursday.

Park was arraigned on Wednesday night by District Judge Don Hahn and was unable to post bail, which was set at 10% of $20,000. He is currently detained at the Centre County Correctional Facility.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 6.