Rocky PotterA man in Rhea County, Tennessee, is behind bars on felony charges related to injuries, including a fracture, that were found last Friday on a 10-month-old child.
James Earl Alexander, 47, is charged with aggravated child abuse, resisting arrest and public intoxication, and is being held on a $100,000 bond, Rhea County Sheriff’s Office investigator Rocky Potter said Thursday. He faces a preliminary hearing on Jan. 22 in General Sessions Court. Dayton police filed the two misdemeanor charges.
Alexander previously resided in Bradley County, Tennessee, and in Georgia, Potter said, and had moved to Rhea County about two months ago.
“He was left in charge of a 10-month-old female and a 3-year-old male for a short period of time, and Friday evening the mother was called to come get the children,” Potter said. The call came from a family member.
“When [the child’s mother] arrived there Friday afternoon, the 10-month old was covered in bruises about the face, shoulders and neck, had a black eye and numerous fresh bruising,” he said.