Police have arrested a 23-year-old St. Petersburg man who is accused of beating his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old son.
According to St. Petersburg police, officers were called to Bayfront Medical Center about 1:30 p.m. Saturday about a possible child abuse case.
They were told that Fire Rescue personnel had gone to a home on the 5400 block of 9th Avenue North and had encountered Anthony Prestero holding an unconscious toddler in his arms.
Rescue personnel were told the child fell from a couch, but Prestero refused to let them inside, police said.
The child was transported to Bayfront, where an examination revealed the child's severe head and facial injuries were not consistent with a fall from a couch. The toddler was admitted to All Children's Hospital as a trauma alert, and his condition later stabilized.
According to police, the child's 28-year-old mother was interviewed by officers at the hospital and acknowledged she left the child in Prestero's custody while she went to purchase drugs. She said she later received a phone call from Prestero asking her to return home because something had happened to her son.
Detectives interviewed Prestero, who eventually changed his story to say the child fell from a kitchen counter, police say.
Because the child's injuries were consistent with a beating, police say, Presetero was arrested and charged with one count of felony child abuse.