Dad charged after baby's bones broken

HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) - The father of a baby hospitalized this spring with broken bones and a closed head injury has been arrested.

Ryan Kupres, 28, faces charges of first-degree child abuse and being a habitual offender, Ottawa County authorities told 24 Hour News 8.

He is accused of injuring his daughter Layla, who in serious condition for days in April when she was just 5 months old.

"I didn't do anything to my daughter," Kupres told 24 Hour News 8 in April.

To make an arrest, Ottawa County Sheriff's Department investigators said they looked at medical records from a 2008 case in which Kupres pleaded no contest in the abuse of another baby -- his then-3-week-old son by another woman. That baby also sustained broken bones. Kupres spent a year in jail for the crime.

"The injuries were very similar," said Ottawa County Sheriff's Department Lt. Mark Bennett. "Timelines were very important in that. [Investigators] had to establish when, by the medical authority's opinion, the injuries occurred and who had access to the child at the time."

Layla's mother told 24 Hour News 8 that Layla has recovered and has no lasting effects from the injuries.

In May, after Target 8 informed the Michigan Office of Children's Ombudsman of the case, the watchdog agency opened a full investigation into whether Child Protective Services workers could have done more to keep baby Layla safe given her father's record of child abuse.

The Office of Ombudsman sent Target 8 a letter in last month saying it had completed its investigation, but could not release the findings until after the criminal case had made its way through the court.

Kupres has voluntarily given up his parental rights to Layla, according to family court records.

During a September hearing, a judge ruled against terminating Layla's mother's parental rights. The judge said the State did not prove a legal basis for termination by clear and convincing evidence.

Still, Layla remains in state custody. Her mother has been permitted supervised visits.

Another family court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19.