A Southern Indiana father has been found guilty of three felonies after his six-month-old son nearly died from more than 50 untreated rat bites in the family’s deteriorating home last year. The Vanderburgh County District Attorney’s Office announced On Sept. 11, a jury convicted David Anthony Schonabaum, 32, of three felony counts, including child neglect causing serious bodily injury.
The horrific incident occurred in September 2023, when emergency responders arrived at the family’s home in Evansville, Indiana. They found the baby in his crib, “in a pool of blood with over 50 bite marks on his body, including his face and extremities,” according to prosecutors. Schonabaum had called 911 and reported that she discovered her son “covered in blood.”
The most serious injuries were to the baby’s right hand, where “all four fingers and the thumb were missing, leaving the bones at the tips of the fingers exposed,” prosecutors said. Medical professionals testified that the baby nearly died from blood loss and now faces permanent injuries due to the neglect, the report said. FOX 8 News.
Authorities had already visited the home before the incident, in response to safety concerns raised by the Department of Child Services. Schonabaum was advised to cooperate in fixing up the home, but on the day of the incident, photos showed the home was in a “deplorable and uninhabitable state,” overrun by rats, insects, trash and rat feces.
“This infant now faces permanent injuries from this incident,” the prosecutor’s office stressed. Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers described the severity of the child’s injuries and living conditions in a statement, calling the situation “unimaginable.” She revealed that rat bites had “permanently disfigured” the infant, who lived with his younger siblings in what she called a “house of horrors.” The family’s pet dog also lived in the same squalor.
“The house he was forced to live in with his younger siblings was overrun with rats and insects, and photos of the house show it was filled with trash and rat feces,” Moers added. Schonabaum’s most serious charge, child neglect causing serious bodily injury, carries a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison. Moers highlighted the lasting impact of the case, saying: “This case is horrific and we will live with the images of this baby forever. It is completely shocking to the conscience that anyone would allow their children and animals to live in such filth.”
If you suspect child abuse has occurred, call Childhelp’s National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or visit www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in more than 170 languages.
