Theopulus Gordon could have prevented the death of Eric Robinson last September, but he didn’t.FORT WAYNE – In September, Michael Combs and two women were accused of neglecting two young children in their care.
A forensic nurse who examined the two children described the extent of the neglect and injuries as potentially fatal.
Already facing an additional charge of battery for injuring one of those children, a 2-year-old boy, Combs is now charged with molesting him as well. According to court documents filed this week, Combs, 26, performed a sex act on the boy in September 2010, causing injuries that until January had gone unexplained.
In January, one of Combs’ co-defendants, 31-year-old Anna Hogan, told prosecutors she saw Combs standing over the toddler, who was lying facedown on the bed.
Combs told her that the boy had vomited, but Hogan said she saw no evidence of that, according to court documents.
Hogan and 25-year-old Shanna Vorndran stayed with Combs, and the two women are charged with neglecting the 2-year-old and another young boy, who was taken to the hospital in September 2010 with a leg fracture, according to court documents.
When the child was examined at the Fort Wayne Sexual Assault Treatment Center in September 2010, forensic examiners found evidence of sexual abuse, according to court documents.
Vorndran left her two children home with Combs while she worked, according to court documents. The three adults all lived in the same home with the children.
The 2-year-old showed no evidence of sexual or physical abuse when he was examined by a doctor in August 2010, about three weeks before he was moved to foster care, according to court documents.
Vorndran told investigators she left her children with Combs when she went to work on seven occasions in early to mid-September 2010, according to court documents.
When she asked Hogan or Combs about the bruises she noticed on her two children, Hogan or Combs told her that “something happened” or “they fell,” according to court documents.
Vorndran pleaded guilty last month to the neglect charges, with a prison sentence capped at six years, according to court documents.
