A 35-year-old Concord man is being held on $25,000 cash bail on charges he repeatedly assaulted a toddler and broke the boy's leg by throwing him on a linoleum floor.

Michael Clements of Monarch Drive is charged with first- and second-degree assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and reckless conduct. Clements broke the boy's leg in January, when the child was 15 months old, and this month covered the boy's body in bruises, according to a police affidavit.

Clements was living in the Monarch Drive home with the boy, now 20 months old, and the boy's 28-year-old mother. Their relationship was not specified in court records or by the police.

It appears from a police affidavit that the state Division for Children, Youth and Families began investigating the boy's injuries early this year, after his leg was broken. The Concord police were given the case Friday, the affidavit said, after new bruises were found on the boy's body.

During the police investigation, Clements lied to detectives and changed his story several times, according to the affidavit. "It was clear that Mr. Clements was not telling the truth," Detective Daniel McDonald said in his court filing.

Clements is being held at the Merrimack County jail and could not be reached. Calls to his home were not returned yesterday. City prosecutor Tracy Connolly had requested Clements be held on much higher bail - $220,000.

Police on the case

The Concord police began investigating Clements after the division received a report of the boy being abused. The state was notified by a woman who had heard about the abuse from the boy's mother, according to a police report.

The police visited the Monarch Drive home Friday and spoke with Clements and the boy's mother. The mother denied her son had bruises but told the police Clements had yelled at the boy and had been physical with him, the affidavit said. She said Clements had thrown her son onto a couch, onto a chair and into his crib when he became angry.

Clements told the police he had yelled at the boy and sometimes pushed him, the affidavit said. He also said initially that he had thrown the boy into his crib, the affidavit said, because he was angry and was "taking his anger out on (the child)."

During a follow-up interview with the police about the boy's January leg injury, Clements gave several variations of how the boy's leg had been broken. At one point, he accused the woman who had reported the abuse of causing the injuries, the affidavit said.

On Friday, the police charged Clements with two counts each of endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault and reckless conduct for allegedly throwing the boy into his crib and onto the chair and couch. Those actions allegedly caused the bruises found on the boy's body.

Meanwhile, the police continued investigating the boy's broken leg.

Several stories

Clements continued to give the police conflicting stories of how the boy's leg had been broken. In one version, he said he had thrown a plate at the child and knocked him off a table, causing him to break his leg, the affidavit said.

Single page