Upper Gwynedd Police Photo by James Short.
A 21-year-old Upper Gwynedd man has been charged by police with felony counts of aggravated assault on a 9-month-old and endangering the welfare of children, and two misdemeanor charges of attempted simple assault, on allegations of biting the arm of the infant while in his care over a March weekend.
Furthermore, Dylan Timothy Thornton, aka Dylin Thornton, of the Parc at West Point apartments on the 100 block of Church Road, is accused of also biting and leaving bite marks in the arm of a woman who lived in Bucks County in 2022, police said.
Thornton, according to court records, posted 10% of $50,000 cash bail on May 24, three days after being jailed following his preliminary arraignment on May 21 before Magisterial District Judge Thoams P. Murt.
On March 31, 2024, Upper Gwynedd Township Police responded to Jefferson Lansdale Hospital in Hatfield Township for a report of a child with a human bite mark, according to the complaint. Officers spoke with a family member of the young victim and viewed the bite mark, police said. The woman told police the infant was in the care of Thornton between March 29 and March 31, 2024, per the complaint.
On the morning of March 31, police said Thornton told the woman that the infant suffered a bite from the family dog. The woman arrived at Thornton’s apartment, police said, where she recognized the bite mark on the infant’s arm as a human one.
The child was brought to the hospital, where the youth was evaluated by a doctor, who confirmed it was a human bite mark, per the affidavit.
Police said Thornton has a history of domestic abuse arrests and had bitten the woman in the past, providing video evidence to police. Doctors agreed the shape and size of the bite were similar, police allege.
Thornton pleaded guilty recently to two counts of harassment and disorderly conduct and was given one year probation and counseling, police said.
Police said Thornton admitted to the woman that he was playing with the child, when the child’s arm fell into his mouth, resulting in him biting the arm.
On April 3, 2024, Thornton drove to Upper Gwynedd Township Police headquarters, where he “offered various possibilities on how” the child suffered a bite mark, according to the complaint.
Thornton, police said, admitted to biting, nibbling and blowing “raspberries” on the child’s body and arms, and that it was “possible” he bit the child’s arm accidentally. When shown pictures and video of the similar bite marks, Thornton, police allege, confirmed the bite marks were his own.
A preliminary hearing is set for June 13 at 12:30 p.m. before Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
