This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

MADISON COUNTY, N.C. — A North Carolina man is accused of severely beating his 7-week-old daughter by breaking her ribs and legs, WLOS reports.

Deputies say Billy Dewayne Taylor intentionally abused the baby girl on multiple occasions, starting when she was as young as 4-weeks-old. The baby’s mother, Jennifer Dawn Davis, allegedly failed to report the crime or get medical help.

The infant is currently in stable condition at Mission Hospital in Asheville, recovering from at least five broken ribs and two broken legs. The child had several other ribs that are currently in the healing stages due to separate assaults. The baby also sustained internal swelling as a result of this last attack.

Follow an interview, Madison County Sheriff Buddy Harwood determined Davis heard “blood-curdling screams coming from the child,” on at least two or three occasions. Harwood says deputies acted as soon as they received a call from the Department of Social Services on Tuesday.

Taylor is charged with two counts of child abuse for purposely and cruelly breaking the infant’s ribs and legs on separate occasions.

Davis is charged with two counts of child abuse for purposely delaying vital emergency medical treatment for the infant and attempting to conceal the gruesome assaults on the infant.

The couple worked as caretakers for a local family care home and the Department of Social Services has previously removed a different child from the home.

Taylor is behind bars on a $500,000 bond while Davis is jailed on $80,000 bond.

35.823752 -82.691543