Dad Who Bit Newborn Daughter at Least 6 Times and Claimed She Was 'Ungrateful' Is Sentenced

Mar. 15, 2025

Gavan Rogers.Photo:Boone County Sheriff’s Office

Gavan Rogers Mugshot

Boone County Sheriff’s Office

An Indiana father will serve jail time after he reportedly bit his newborn daughter, leaving teeth marks on her body, and then claimed he did so because she was “ungrateful.”

As a result of the plea agreement, Rogers was sentenced to three years behind bars with one year executed and two years on supervised probation.

The hospital alerted the Indiana Department of Child Services to “mouth-shaped” bruises and teeth-marks on the newborn’s shoulder, forearms, stomach, knee and leg, per theWashington Times Herald. When questioned about the bruises, Rogers reportedly told hospital workers that he may have “open mouth kissed” the newborn too hard, per WXIN.

However, after inspecting the photos of the bites, Whitestown Police Detective Joseph Turney said in the affidavit that the “injuries could only have been inflicted while using excessive force, which would have caused severe pain to the [victim],” per theTimes Herald.

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PEOPLE reached out to the Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department for comment.

Rogers was arrested on Mar. 14, 2023 on charges of neglect of a dependent and battery, the outlet reported. Rogers received credit for the three months he served in the Boone County Jail and nine months at the Boone County Community Corrections, according to court documents.

source: people.com