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Williamsport Man Charged with Severe Child Beating

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A man from Williamsport is in jail, accused of beating his girlfriend’s toddler so bad, that the 2-year-old child will need care...

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. -- A man from Williamsport is in jail, accused of beating his girlfriend's toddler so bad, that the 2-year-old child will need care for the rest of his life.

According to court papers, Bahteem Sims, 21, was babysitting the 2-year-old boy on May 9 at his girlfriend's apartment on Glenwood Avenue. He called 911 to report the child was unresponsive, saying the toddler fell off the couch and hit his head.

"There were cops everywhere, ambulances, fire trucks. I had watched them just because it's across the street. I had watched them because I was curious about what was going on in the neighborhood," said neighbor Stacy Walter.

According to court papers, paramedics did not believe the child fell off a couch because his injuries were too severe.

Doctors found about 100 hemorrhages in each eye, eight broken ribs in various stages of healing, and many old bruises. That's all in addition to the child's brain injury.

"It's too much. The kid obviously was put through it more than once and it should never have even have come to this," said neighbor Kelsey Cole.

Sims faces charges including aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child.

Neighbors tell Newswatch 16 they wish they would have known about the alleged abuse, but since it's an apartment house, it's hard to know what's going on inside.

"I don't follow the people in and out of it but it's sad knowing it's right there. You'd like to think if you see something like that, you can help them, but unfortunately, I never noticed," said Walter.

"We know most kids on this block, but we didn't know there was a young child even living in that building. I just saw adults," Cole said.

Sims is in the Lycoming County Jail. The child is still in the hospital as a result of his injuries.

Earlier this week, the child's mother was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. She's currently free on the condition that she have no contact with the boy.

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