Man Accused of Rubbing Child's Face in Her Vomit, Slapping Her

A Springtown man is facing a felony charge of injury to a child after officials say he pushed a toddler's face into her own vomit and slapped her neck in the bath.

The man, identified by law enforcement as 24-year-old Matthew Ryan Bagwell, was watching the child July 9 while her mother was at work.

According to an arrest warrant, Bagwell said during an interview with investigators July 15 the child became sick and was crying for her mother when she vomited on the living room floor.

Bagwell admitted to police that he pushed the child to the floor and rubbed her face in the vomit, causing an abrasion on her cheek.

He said he then took the child to the bath, where she continued to cry. He said he then hit her in the neck with an open hand to calm her down, leaving a mark.

Bagwell is not the child's father, though his specific relationship to the child is being withheld to protect her identity.

"I am deeply disturbed and appalled by the actions of the suspect in this case," said Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler.

Bagwell was arrested and charged with injury to a child with intentional bodily injury, a third degree felony. Bagwell was released from custody after posting $10,000 bail, according to The Dallas Morning News.

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