PORT DEPOSIT — A man remained jailed Tuesday after he allegedly was caught on camera throwing his 7-month-old daughter onto a couch inside a Port Deposit apartment and then grabbing the baby by the throat, before “violently shaking” the child while saying, “Shut the (expletive) up,” according to Cecil County District Court records.
Investigators identified the suspect as 27-year-old Joshua Timothy Dunn, whose town address is listed in court records as Middle River.
The investigation leading to Dunn’s arrest and the criminal charges against him started on Wednesday (July 3), when Maryland State Police troopers went to the Port Deposit apartment after receiving a report of child abuse, police reported.
Court records indicate that the child’s 36-year-old mother told investigators that she noticed an “abnormal bruise” on her baby’s arm in March 2024 and that, because of the concern it caused her, she hid a camera in the living room of her apartment. At that point, according to the charging document, she already suspected Dunn of giving the baby medicine “to make her go to sleep.”
The mother, who was able to monitor the hidden camera from her place of employment while the baby was in Dunn’s care, provided investigators with a video gleaned from that recording device, police said. The video that she provided investigators had been recorded in that living room at approximately 6:15 p.m. on July 1, and it included audio, police added.
At the outset of the recording, the baby is heard “crying loudly” and Dunn is seen holding the child while seated on a couch, according to the charging document.
“DUNN is seen throwing a bottle across the room before picking up the VICTIM and throwing the VICTIM onto the couch. DUNN throws the VICTIM with enough force that the VICTIM falls off the couch onto the floor,” the trooper who served as lead investigator wrote in his statement of probable cause in court records, outlining what he saw on the video.
The video then shows Dunn picking up the baby and putting her on the couch, before leaving the room, court records show.
“The VICTIM can be heard screaming loudly. DUNN then returns, and strikes the VICTIM with his right hand. DUNN then grabs the VICTIM by what appears to be her throat and begins violently shaking the VICTIM against the couch for several seconds while telling the VICTIM to ‘Shut the (expletive) up’,” court records allege.
After viewing the footage, the mother returned to the residence and took custody of the child, according to court records, which indicate that police arrested Dunn on July 3.
Dunn is facing seven criminal charges, including first-degree child abuse resulting in severe physical injury, second-degree custodial child abuse and first-degree assault, all of which are felonies, court records show. The four misdemeanors filed against Dunn include reckless endangerment and second-degree assault, court records indicate.
He remained in the Cecil County Detention Center on no bond Tuesday, four days after his bail review hearing, according to court records, which show that Cecil County District Court Judge Clara E. Campbell presided over that proceeding.
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