Infant Found with 50 Rat Bites Nearly Died from Blood Loss. His Father Was Just Convicted

Mar. 15, 2025

David Schonabaum.Photo:Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office

Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office

Content warning: The following article contains disturbing descriptions.

A Southern Indiana father was found guilty on three felony charges after his 6-month-old son “nearly died,” according to prosecutors, after suffering more than 50 untreated rat bites at the family’s dilapidated house last year in 2023.

The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Officeannounceda jury found David Anthony Schonabaum guilty on three felonies on Sept. 11.

“The infant’s right hand suffered the most traumatic injuries with all four fingers and the thumb missing flesh and exposing the fingertip bones,” the prosecutor’s office said.

According to authorities, officials from the Department of Child Services had already been to the Evansville, Ind., home to “address the safety concerns” at the house and got a “third party” involved with helping fix up the house, telling Schonabaum that his “participation was necessary” to help upkeep the house, as well. However, the prosecutor’s office said photographs taken of the house on the day the 6-month-old child was found nearly bleeding to death had “revealed the home in a deplorable, unlivable condition.”

Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers said in a statement last week that Schonabaum’s most serious charge of child negligence causing serious bodily injury carries a potential maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com