An Indiana father whose 6-month-old son was found with more than 50 rat bites in their vermin-infested home will be going to prison.
David Schonabaum, 32, was sentenced on Wednesday to 16 years, online court records show. He was found guilty of three counts of child neglect for the boy and two other kids in the home.
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As Law&Crime previously reported, the case came to light on Sept. 3, 2023, when officers with the Evansville Police Department responded to a call about a baby requiring emergency medical attention at a residence in the 1600 block of South Linwood Avenue. The caller — later identified as Schonabaum — told the dispatcher that he awoke to find his infant son “covered in blood” and said the boy’s fingers appeared to have been “chewed off.”
At the scene, first responders provided emergency medical treatment, stabilized the baby, and took him to a hospital. Soon after arriving, the boy was transported via helicopter to another hospital in Indianapolis for more specialized treatment.