Man jailed in child abuse case
Raymond Matteson of Uniontown is escorted from the Fayette County Booking Center by Officer Michael Bittner following his arrest on Saturday. Matteson was arrested for allegedly injuring his girlfriend’s 20-month-old son.
Matteson
A Fayette County toddler is hospitalized and his mother’s boyfriend jailed in connection with injuries suffered by the child Friday evening.
Raymond Allen Matteson, 35, of Smithfield, is charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of children. The charges stem from an incident shortly before 6:30 p.m. Friday that left a 20-month old boy hospitalized with a lacerated liver and severe head injuries according to the affidavit of probable cause filed with the charges. The child is the son of Lori Brundege, no address listed.
Matteson was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Randy Abraham at the Fayette County Booking Center, with a preliminary hearing tentatively set for Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Fayette County 911 was called to send an ambulance 72 Liberty St., Smithfield around 6:30 p.m. Friday. State police were contacted by Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh Saturday morning to investigate the injuries to the child. According to the affidavit, Matteson was the child’s caregiver at the time of his injuries.
According to the affidavit, Matteson gave police and hospital officials five different versions of how the child sustained the injuries, which the medical staff said were inconsistent with the injuries.
“In addition, the injuries were shown to be inflicted injuries,” Tr. John Marshall wrote in the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, Matteson stated that he was changing the child’s diaper and left the room for a period. He said when he returned, the child was turning purple and was unresponsive. Matteson gave a statement that he first sprinkled water on the child’s head, then placed him in the shower when he did not respond to the water on his head.
John Robert Riggle, who was also in the Smithfield house at the time, contacted 911. Riggle gave police a statement that he came downstairs and found Matteson shaking the baby in the kitchen, then placing the baby’s head under the faucet in an attempt to revive the unresponsive child. Riggle told police Matteson then ran upstairs with the baby and put him in the shower in another attempt to revive him.
Riggle said they placed the baby on the floor and performed CPR with both breathing and chest compressions. Riggle told police that Matteson told him not to call 911 and attempted to call off the ambulance at one point.
State police are continuing to investigate the incident.
Matteson Saturday told Abraham that he was released from jail in 2010 and that he is not currently employed. State records show that he was sentenced to nine to 24 months in jail by an Erie County judge for a 2008 assault. Records also show that Matteson was found guilty in Fayette County of a summary charge of harassment for subjecting someone else to physical contact earlier this year.