A 4-year-old boy's bleeding kidney leads to child abuse charge for St. Pete man

ST. PETERSBURG — David Patrick Conway hit a little boy so hard it made his kidney bleed, say Pinellas County sheriff's officials.

Conway, 23, was arrested Thursday on a charge of aggravated child abuse after an investigation found he caused a laceration to the 4-year-old's kidney while he was supposed to be caring for the boy, authorities said.

The boy, whose identity sheriff's officials did not release, told his mother last week that he had urinated blood, deputies said. Later the same day, the boy urinated again and showed his mother blood in the toilet bowl. His mother took a picture of the blood and took her son to a local hospital.

Doctors later discovered the laceration and determined that it was due to "trauma," rather than an illness or other medical condition, authorities said.

Sheriff's officials learned the boy's mother left her son in Conway's care while she was at work, officials said. The boy told deputies that Conway had hit him.

Conway, who lives in St. Petersburg, was arrested Thursday morning during a traffic stop at Blind Pass Road and Captiva Circle in St. Pete Beach, authorities said.

He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail and held without bail.