Child abuse victim remains hospitalized

An Onslow County man charged with assaulting his 7-week-old child will hire an attorney to represent him, the man said at his first court appearance Monday.

Brandon Todd Gravitt, 25, of Murrill Hill Road, was charged Friday by the Onslow County Sheriff’s Department with child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and assault on a child under 12.

His son, Lucian David Gravitt, born in December, remains under care at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hospital.

Gravitt is accused of squeezing and striking his son causing a leftrib fracture, right-clavicle fracture, radial fracture and major cranial trauma, according to warrants.

Gravitt admitted to hitting his son to Sheriff’s Sgt. John Getty, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Department.

Gravitt’s bond remains $125,500.