Pennsylvania police have arrested a man accused of raping and killing a 4-year-old boy in Butler Township.
According to WTAE, 20-year-old Keith Jordan Lambing of Wexford has been charged with aggravated indecent assault of a child, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, rape, and criminal homicide.
The boy, Bentley Miller, was sexually assaulted and died from a severe loss of blood, a criminal complaint posits.
Lambing was the sole care provider of the boy when Bentley suffered his injuries.
According to law enforcement officials, Lambing was taking care of Bentley on the morning of March 21 at a Super 8 motel in Butler, where Lambing and the mother of the boy were living, when Lambing called his mother, Kristen Herold, stating Bentley needed medical attention.
Herold picked up the boy and was allegedly taking Bentley to the boy’s father’s residence, not a hospital, when the boy stopped responding. She reportedly pulled into the parking lot of a bank to call 911, after which Bentley was taken by ambulance to a local hospital where doctors could do nothing for him.
She had told 911 first responders that the 4-year-old was bleeding excessively.
“She didn’t take him to the hospital. She was driving him to his father’s residence, rather than the hospital, so she wasn’t seeking medical attention for him,” Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger said.
Herold has since been charged with child endangerment and hindering her son’s apprehension. Police say she lied about where law enforcement officials could find her son, who had a bench warrant out for his arrest.
“The hindering apprehension comes in because she knew police were looking to talk to her son. She knew his whereabouts and she did not reveal those,” Goldinger said.
Investigators do not believe Bentley’s mother was involved in her son’s death. She was at work when her son was injured and allegedly raped, Goldinger said, adding that Bentley’s mother was interviewed “extensively” by police officers.
The cause of Bentley’s death has yet to be identified. Police say the boy had bruising, bleeding and severe burns on his hand as well as injuries associated with sodomy.
The Pittsburg Post-Gazette reported Lambing and his mother were found hiding in the attic of an abandoned home in Butler and captured by authorities on March 22.
A GoFundMe donation page has been set up to cover Bentley’s funeral expenses. As of March 23, the campaign had raised slightly more than half of its $20,000 goal.
Source: by DailyHeadlines