Trial begins for St. Augustine man accused of child abuse

Medical experts said Tuesday the injuries inflicted on a 7-year-old girl were the result of significant force she would not have been able to exert upon herself.

The trial for 40-year-old Bryan Arnold, a St. Augustine man charged with aggravated child abuse and battery by strangulation, began yesterday in a St. Johns County courtroom.

"The extent of the bruising came from multiple, repeated blows with a hand or object," said Christy Prendergast, a child protection team nurse involved in the case.

Arnold was arrested on Sept. 1, 2013, and faces 30 years in prison.

The victim said Arnold, who was her mother's boyfriend, sent her to her room to go to bed on the night of Aug. 31, 2013. The St. Augustine Record does not print the names of children involved in criminal cases.

The victim said she couldn't fall asleep, so she started watching TV in the room she and her younger sister shared. She said Arnold came in and told her to stop watching TV, but she didn't stop.

When Arnold realized she didn't obey, he proceeded to "spank and beat her up because she disobeyed him," according to the arrest report.

"One of his hands was on my neck and the other was whipping me," the victim said. "He put a pillow on me, and I couldn't breathe. Then one of my eardrums popped."

Also Tuesday, the victim's sister, who was 6 years old at the time, testified about what she saw.

"Her arm twisted around, and she had a bloody nose and ear," she said. "She started crying, but he kept hitting her."

Both girls said their mother was asleep on the couch at the time.

The victim was taken to the emergency room at Flagler Hospital, where she was treated by Dr. Matthew Rill.

"She came in with bruising on her head, face and thigh and had pain in her wrist. We ultimately found a fracture in her left wrist and an eardrum injury," Rill said. "I think it'd be difficult for a 7-year-old to self-inflict those injuries."

Rill's reports say the victim identified Arnold as her attacker.

"She said her injuries were a result from an alleged assault by her mother's boyfriend," Rill said.

Arnold was also referenced as the attacker in Prendergast's reports when she met with the victim a couple days after the incident.

"She told me, 'He choked me and whipped me, and broke my arm,'" Prendergast said. "She was referring to her mother's boyfriend."

Arnold is being represented by Marcella Beeching, and Judge Michael Traynor is presiding over the proceedings.

The trial, which was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Kaitlyn Mairs and Mitchell Bishop, is to wrap up today.