A Bovoni-area mother found her one-year-old daughter screaming in a duffle bag along the roadway outside her home Monday on St. Thomas, allegedly left there by the child’s father, according to court records.
Suffering from a debilitating illness that required brief hospitalization, the mother asked Garth Eugene, 41, to watch their baby while she recovered at home. It was Valentine’s Day and he was off work the following Monday. She left the girl and extra clothes with him at 11:15 a.m. Sunday, according to court records.
Less than 24 hours later she received a call from her father. Eugene had phoned saying he’d left the baby inside a duffle bag along the roadway outside her home.
The woman found her baby alone, inside the pink bag, crying. She took a photo and called police.
Eugene allegedly told Virgin Islands Police officers he left the baby because he’d been called into work and had seen the mother’s car in the driveway.
He was arrested and charged with child neglect, child abuse, and first-degree reckless endangerment. According to a record of his advice of rights hearing Tuesday, Eugene’s bail was set at $60,000, of which he was allowed to post $1,000, with $59,000 unsecured. He was ordered to have no contact with his child or her mother until the matter is reviewed by the Family Division of the Superior Court, surrender his passport and driver’s license, and report to the Office of Probation twice a week in person, among other conditions. His arraignment is scheduled for March 6.
It was not Eugene’s first arrest for abusing a child, according to court records.
In December 2007, a then-23-year-old Eugene pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault and battery upon a child. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, six months unsupervised probation, $224.70 restitution for medical expenses, and was ordered to obtain his GED.
Eight months later he was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm. The charges were later dismissed. In December 2017 he was charged with another felony but online court records don’t give details of either prosecution.
