A Florida man has been arrested for allegedly attempting to “circumcise” his two-year-old cousin while he was babysitting on October 17.
Timothoes Powell, 29, was watching the child while his mother was working and the grandparents were taking a nap.
Powell called the toddler’s mother at approximately 7 p.m. and claimed that the child was “bleeding from his penis area as glass had entered his diaper,” according to an incident report obtained by Fox 35. He claimed that he had tried to wipe the glass off, which broke the skin.
The boy was taken to the hospital, and his skin was glued, but staff reported the incident to police because they “feared some type of abuse was happening at the residence,” according to the police report.
Fox 35 reports:
The home had surveillance cameras inside, which showed Powell changing the boy’s diaper and then walking away with an unknown object in his hand, police said. The baby was seen screaming and crying before Powell returned to the put the diaper on.
Another video showed Powell apparently “frustrated” as he manipulated the boy’s diaper, the report said. Other footage from the day allegedly showed Powell yelling at the toddler, squirting him with a water bottle and threatening to put soap in his mouth if he wasn’t quiet.
Powell told police that “he may have pulled (the boy’s) penis downward with too much force” and began “to wipe him very hard,” but that he had not intentionally cut him.
An advanced practice nurse from the Child Protection Team (CPT) said that Powell’s claims were not consistent with the injuries and that the cut was too clean to have been done without intent. They said it looked “as if they may have tried to circumcise” him.
Powell is currently being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $100,000 bond.
