Mpls Dean Abuses Adopted Son, Age 1

Roosevelt High School Dean of Students in Minneapolis was accused of beating up his adopted 1-year-old son.

Damien Poling is facing two assault charges.

A week ago last Friday; Poling's wife brought their one year old son, to the Midwest Children's Resource Center in St. Paul because she noticed some bruises on the boy's body.

X-rays showed the baby had two fractured ribs, fractures in both ankles and fractured bones in both wrists.

Poling later told investigators, at least twice, he had picked the boy up at their home in Richfield because the boy wouldn't stop crying and squeezed him under his arm so tightly, the boy may have been hurt.

Poling also told investigators he was frustrated because the boy, who they had adopted from Colombia back in August. Police allegedly had not bonded with him because he was under a lot of stress at work, and that he's also been suffering from depression.

Barb McGuire with the Children's Home Society of Minnesota, which helps facilitate 600 international adoptions a year, says some parents who have other children like the Poling’s may not realize how different adopting a child from another country can be.

McGuire says Poling's position working with children may have made it more difficult for him to ask for help, but she says every parent, whether their children are adopted or not needs a helping hand from time to time.