A Knoxville man faces charges after police say he violently abused a 3-month-old baby, including throwing the baby on a bed, causing it to smash her head against the bed’s headboard. Officers say 22-year-old Samuel D. Bates faces aggravated child abuse and child neglect charges.

Police were called last night to a home on Wood Road in Knoxville to find an unresponsive baby, who was then rushed to the hospital.

The report says “the victim had injuries inconsistent with the suspect/arrestee’s initial statement(s), and the victim has serious internal injuries, inconsistent with any accidental trauma.

After more questioning, the report says Bates admitted to abusing the little girl, both on previous occasions and yesterday.

The report says Bates admitted to “violently removing the victim from her rocker by her throat, violently shaking the victim several times, holding the victim in a dangerous manner against his chest (obstructing the victim’s airway) and throwing the victim on a bed inside the residence, striking the victim’s head severely against the bed’s headboard.”

The baby is now in the pediatric ICU at a hospital in Knoxville.

Bates was taken to the Knox County Jail and placed under a $500,000 bond. He is set for arraignment today in court and a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for November 4, 2019.

“Sheriff Spangler and KCSO detectives ask that you keep the victim in your thoughts and prayers,” a Knox County Sheriff’s Office release said.