A Philadelphia man has been accused of murdering and raping his 1-year-old stepson. The man also has an unsettling past, filled with criminal activity, according to CBS Philadelphia.
Saleem Salaam, 24, was arrested and given multiple felony charges when police responded to a report of an unresponsive child on Wednesday afternoon. Salaam, 24, told them there was an infant upstairs who wasn’t breathing. Emergency workers transported the child to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
After an investigation, the child’s stepfather was taken to the police Special Victims Unit and was arrested.
Doctors noted the child had multiple bruises, and showed signs of suffering a sexual assault. Homicide Capt. James Clark has stated that some of the boy’s injuries appear to have been inflicted prior to the date of death.
“The young man had been tortured, brutally beaten, and sexually assaulted,” Capt. Clark said. “Honestly, there’s absolutely, positively no justification or reason [Salaam] could have given for putting his hands on a 1-year-old child.”
Alarmingly, this isn’t the first time the 24-year-old has faced serious criminal charges. Court records indicate that in February 2008, Salaam—who was 15 at the time—was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery, and other related offenses. He was originally charged as an adult, but the case was later moved to family court. Thus, the details surrounding the outcome are unavailable.
Capt. Clark has described Salaam as a “bad guy” who is “very known” to police.
The Philadelphia man has been charged with murder, unlawful sexual contact with a minor, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated assault, attempted murder, corruption of a minor, endangering the welfare of another person, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.
Saleem Salaam has been denied bail and is currently imprisoned. Philadelphia Patch has reported that he will appear in court in a preliminary hearing for the murder charge on June 27 and the rest of the charges on June 21.
[Featured Image: Philadelphia Police Department]
