Cary man faces child abuse charge

Maurice Deshon Arnold, 20, of 115 Karen Court, was charged with one count of intentional child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury in connection with the crime, which happened Sept. 26.

An arrest warrant says the child suffered internal hemorrhaging and had a lacerated liver – injuries that Capt. Don Hamilton, a spokesman for the Cary Police Department, said were initially classified as life-threatening.

The child, Hamilton said, has since been released from the hospital and is doing fine.

Arnold's stepfather, Love Hill, said Tuesday that he's not sure what happened that led to the charge but that he has seen Arnold with the child and doesn't think his stepson is capable of doing harm.

"He has made some bad choices, but they don't have anything to do with a child," Hill said. "They have to do with being in the street life."

Hill said Arnold often cared for his girlfriend's child in the morning while she worked and later took the child to a relative who would provide care for the rest of the day.

Hill found out about the accusation, he said, when Arnold's girlfriend called from a local hospital asking him if he knew anything about the child falling down steps.

The next day, he said, investigators showed up at the home looking for something that would make an imprint on the child's back.

Hamilton wouldn't comment on the details of the case Tuesday but said investigators had been looking for Arnold since September for questioning in the case.

"We did our investigation and met with the DA's office, but we just couldn't find him," he said. "We're just glad to get him off the street. It's a very serious incident involving a young child, so we do consider it a lucky break."

Arnold, who was in the Wake County Detention Center Tuesday on a $500,000 secured bond for the child abuse charge, was already in jail when he was charged Monday.

Raleigh police arrested him earlier this month on a charge of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon in connection with an Oct. 14 robbery. Police said he robbed a couple in their apartment on Gorman Street and tried to kill a man but his gun jammed.

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Arnold has been convicted on several drug-related charges since 2010 as well as a charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

He recently served time in prison for a drug conviction last year and was out of prison on probation when he was arrested in connection with the Oct. 14 crime.