Father Imprisoned for 2.5 Years After Leaving Infant Son in the Woods

Victor Westerkamp
By Victor Westerkamp
April 29, 2019US News
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Father Imprisoned for 2.5 Years After Leaving Infant Son in the Woods
Detective Doug Jackson with the deserted little boy, Bradley Thomas. (Deschutes County Sheriff's Office)

An Ohio father who last year abandoned his infant son in the wilderness near Bend, Oregon, recently pleaded guilty to multiple charges and was sentenced to prison for two-and-a-half years.

The 13-month-old son was found deserted in the woods, with a broken leg, fractured skull, and methamphetamine in his system.

Early in the morning on May 10, 2018, a bruised, scratched, and incoherent woman appeared on the property of a homeowner on Tekampe Road in Bend, Oregon, according to The Bulletin.

The 19-year-old woman, Kaitelin Thomas, told a responding sheriff’s deputy that she was on the run from 25-year-old Brandon Blouin, who had their 13-month-old son, Bradley Thomas.

Blouin was found about an hour later—without his son—at a home on Sholes Road and appeared to be high on meth. Blouin thought he was being chased by a gang of armed men, according to court documents obtained by the news outlet. After police questioned him, they assumed the son, Bradley Thomas, must be somewhere in the woods.

NTD Photo
Brandon Blouin after been arrested. (Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office)

According to authorities, Blouin and Thomas had taken the baby from his legal guardian in West Virginia and traveled to Oregon to live in an SUV near Bend in Oregon. At some point, however, Thomas left, and Blouin took the boy and went to look for her.

Blouin’s attorney, Dan ­Yeager, negotiated with the Deschutes County District Attorney’s office, to avoid a long and complicated trial.

Blouin agreed to plea guilty to criminal mistreatment, endangering the welfare of a minor, and felon in possession of body armor, and he was sentenced on April 16. In exchange for accepting responsibility, three counts against him—custodial interference, child neglect, and abandonment of a child—were dismissed, WSBT reported.

The criminal mistreatment plea comes with a sentence of just over 2.5 years in prison. Furthermore, Blouin was given five years of probation for endangering a minor. The body armor plea gave him 30 days in jail.

An Extensive Search

On the day Blouin left his son behind in the woods, he allegedly told authorities he put the child down to look for Thomas.

An extensive search immediately ensued involving off-duty units and a team of firefighters, horsemen, drones, and helicopters, according to The Bulletin. Blouin, surrounded by paramedics, also returned to the scene, with the IV still attached in his arm.

“Defendant was extremely distraught and emotional due to the loss of his son,” the motion read, according to the news outlet.

NTD Photo
One-year-old Bradly Thomas wrapped in a sheriff’s coat after he was found by the police. (Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office)

Finally, just before noon, sheriff’s Detective Doug Jackson found Bradley naked and asleep in the dirt. Blouin was then permitted to hold his son and was reportedly “overcome with emotion.”

After examination medical specialists found that Bradley had a broken leg, a fractured skull, and had methamphetamine in his blood. It’s not clear who inflicted the injuries upon him.

The child is now said to be doing well and living with his grandmother in West Virginia. His mother does not face any charges.

BLOUIN BACK IN CUSTODY Brandon Blouin Arrested in Bend Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office detectives, assisted by the…

Posted by Central Oregon Daily News on Wednesday, November 28, 2018

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