St. Bernard man arrested for child abuse for slapping young son to the face out of frustration while bathing him, causing the boy to slip and hit his face on the tub

A St. Bernard Parish father was arrested for child abuse after he slapped his 3-year-old son to the face in frustration when the boy soiled himself as the man was preparing to bathe him, with the slap causing the boy to slip and hit his face on the side of the tub, Sheriff James Pohlmann said.

The child also had a bite mark to the face, the sheriff said.

The 3-year-old was taken to St. Bernard Parish Hospital by his mother on Friday night, Sept. 27, after she heard him crying loudly following the injury and she found his face bloodied.

Joshua Drakin, 32, 1709 Gnell Drive, in eastern St. Bernard Parish, was later booked with second-degree battery, which is a felony, and cruelty to a juvenile, the sheriff said.

Drakin was booked into St. Bernard Parish Prison early Saturday morning and remains there in lieu of bond set at $7,500.

The mother, interviewed at the hospital by a responding deputy, said she was asleep when awakened by the child crying and the father yelling at him. When she went into the bathroom, she found her son was injured and while cleaning the blood off him and tending to a laceration, she asked what had happened, the sheriff said.

She said the father told her the boy had gotten into the refrigerator and made a mess of leftovers and needed a bath. She said he also told her when he removed the child’s pants to bathe him he found the boy had soiled himself, and claimed he “freaked out’’ and slapped him, causing the child to slip and hit the side of the tub, a sheriff’s report of the incident said. She also saw a bite mark to the boy’s face, the mother told deputies.

The child, when questioned, said his father had hit and bit him in the bath.

After his arrest, Joshua Drakin admitted to slapping his son in the face, causing him to fall, but denied biting his face.