Twenty-three-year-old Nicholas St. Francis was arrested over the weekend. Police say he dunked his 2-month-old son into a reservoir in Spencer, Massachusetts.
"Oh my God," said a witness who did not want to be identified. "The baby's two months old. What are you doing?"
Police say it happened Sunday at Stiles Reservoir, across the street from St. Francis's Wilson Avenue home. He was allegedly with a group of friends, drinking alcohol.
"I said, 'What the heck is he doing?'" said the neighbor. "I guess he dunked it because I really couldn't see all of it, and after that, everybody cheered. And the baby was crying."
The neighbor says it happened on a private beach.
According to police, someone took a video of St. Francis dipping the infant in the water, at one point, submerging him.
"Whether you were meaning it to be or not, it certainly is endangerment at that point," said Spencer Police Sgt. John Agnew.
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Police say St. Francis told them he had watched Youtube videos where people dunk infants to teach them how to swim. Court documents say St. Francis told police it wasn't a big deal.
"Anytime somebody does something like this, you could always have something negative happen out of it," said Agnew. "You're on a lake, it's a large body of water, you have boats going by, you have waves going. If the child slipped out of the hands, who knows what could've happened at that particular point."
Police say the baby's mother was at work Sunday. They received a call from her friend, who saw the video of St. Francis.
"She was concerned about the welfare, obviously, of the child at that time," said Agnew.
Court documents say the baby's parents brought him to the hospital as a precaution, and they told police they are good parents. The Massachusetts Department of Dhildren and Families is investigating.
No one answered at St. Francis's home Tuesday morning. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $500 bail Monday, charged with assault and battery and reckless endangerment of a child.
"I don't approve of what he did," said the neighbor. "Hate to see that happen."
