A 13-month-old Oregon baby found alone in Central Oregon woods had numerous injuries and meth in his system, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
The Bulletin reports that prosecutors provided never-before-heard details about the incident at a Wednesday hearing at the Deschutes County Circuit Court in Bend, Oregon. According to testimony, authorities found the little boy, Bradley Michael Thomas, alone in the forest with a skull fracture, a broken leg, and drugs in his system on May 10.
“When he was discovered naked in the brush, he had a broken leg, skull fractures and meth was found in his system,” prosecutor Van McIver said.
The incident apparently began when the baby’s father, Brandon Michael Blouin, 26, and the baby’s mother, Katelin Dawn Jordan, 19, got into an argument inside a Jeep they lived in with the baby. While the vehicle was parked off of China Hat Road in Bend, Jordan got out and began walking away.
Blouin reportedly followed her with the baby in his arms, then dropped Bradley in the woods at a fencepost. At around 6:20 a.m. the following morning, Blouin asked a homeowner off of Shoals Road to contact police. Bradley had disappeared, sparking a multiagency search effort. Deschutes County sheriff’s Detective Doug found the little boy at around noon, lying naked in dirt.
Police arrested Blouin and charged him with reckless endangerment, child abandonment, and other related charges. Authorities added a custodial interference charge when they learned Blouin allegedly stole the baby from Jordan’s mother, who had custody of Bradley.
Blouin reportedly violated a protective order when he took the little boy, according to Jordan. Jordan also said that Blouin “forced her” to flee with him. The Bulletin spoke with Blouin after the incident, when he reportedly said several men and woman had been chasing him with machetes and guns when he left his son alone. He indicated he put the baby down to distract the alleged group of people chasing him.
Jordan reportedly said Blouin had been beating her the night she ran from the vehicle. She claimed he refused to allow her to take the baby with her.
During Wednesday’s hearing, McIver revealed someone called 911 on the night in question after spotting Jordan walking on their property with scratches on her body. Jordan was “mumbling incoherently,” according to court documents.
“She appeared to be under the influence of meth,” McIver said.
Jordan has not been criminally charged in the incident. Blouin, however, remains behind bars after he was bailed out initially by his grandparents, but missed his motions hearing in November. Police found him at a Motel 6 on November 27 and subsequently arrested him.
Blouin is incarcerated on a $500,000 bond. He claimed “there’s a lot of information the people don’t know,” but has yet to elaborate on what he meant, according to The Observer.
“I’m fighting this all the way through. It was a serious situation that happened that night. It was really detrimental to my life, and it scared me real bad. I’m not trying to avoid anything, but I am planning to go all the way through on this.”
Check back with CrimeOnline as additional updates become available.
[Feature Photo: Bradley Thomas/Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office]
