On November 25, 2011, Justin Collett, a 30 year old Smithfield resident was arrested by Smithfield City Police for 2nd degree felony child abuse and booked into Cache County Detention Facility. According to information provided by SCPD Detective Sergeant Nick Hidalgo, Mr. Collett’s 16 day old baby was taken to Primary Children’s Hospital on November 24, 2011 due to severe trauma to the infant’s skull and brain. Medical personnel at the Logan Regional Hospital and the Primary Children’s Hospital informed Sgt. Hidalgo that the nature of injuries sustained by the infant were believed to be non-accidental.

Preliminary information released by SCPD alleges that Mr. Collett was tending the infant during a time when the mother had gone into town. Witnesses who were with Mr. Collett told police that they heard a loud thump on the floor after Mr. Collett had gone to check on the child. After the mother had returned home and was feeding the baby, she noticed swelling on both the right and left sides of the baby’s head. The mother told SCPD officers that Mr. Collett told her that the baby had fallen. She immediately drove the baby to Logan Regional Hospital.

The baby was driven by ambulance from Logan Regional Hospital to a hospital in Brigham City to meet Life Flight. Life Flight then carried the baby to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. The child is in stable condition at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.