An Arkansas man with addresses listed in both Clinton and Jonesboro was ordered held on a $50,000 bond Monday in connection to the suspected sexual assault of an 11-month-old girl last week in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
As first reported on Inside Fort Smith on Monday, Derek D. Gates, 37, was arrested Friday by Green Bay Police on suspicion of first-degree sexual assault of the girl.
The infant was taken to the hospital Friday by Gates and his girlfriend, who is the child’s mother. Gates is not the baby’s father.
Gates appeared at Monday’s court hearing via video from the Brown County Jail.
Brown County Assistant District Attorney Mary Kerrigan-Mares said by telephone on Monday the mother and Gates took the girl to the hospital after finding blood in the child’s diaper. The woman told authorities the baby had no injuries or bleeding the night before, Kerrigan-Mares said.
Doctors determined the child had abrasions and other injuries consistent with a sexual assault, Kerrigan-Mares said.
Gates and the mother both denied being responsible for the injuries.
“There is not an explanation on how this child suffered these injuries,” Kerrigan-Mares said.
Gates is in Green Bay for work. The woman and her two children were staying with him at a hotel.
The incident is still under investigation, she said.
A court commissioner set Gates’ bond at $50,000. He is to have no contact with the woman and her children, and no unsupervised contact with minors.
Gates, who did not have an attorney, is scheduled to appear in court Aug 8.