Ryan Scott Nichols

A Marshalltown man has been arrested and charged in the abuse of his 2-month-old son.

According to a Marshalltown Police Department report, officers were called to the emergency room at Central Iowa Healthcare at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday for a suspected case of child abuse.

When officers arrived they were briefed by the medical staff and informed that the child was being flown by air ambulance to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines with serious injuries.

MPD Capt. Mike Hanken said detectives were called in to continue the investigation, and based upon their investigation, shortly before 6 a.m. Thursday, they arrested the father of the child, Ryan Scott Nichols.

Nichols, 18, was charged with willful injury, neglect or abandonment of a dependent person and child endangerment causing bodily injury — all Class C felonies.

Nichols is currently being held at the Marshall County Jail on a $10,000 cash or surety bond. His next court appearance is slated for 1 p.m. Dec. 27 in Marshall County District Court.

The case remains under investigation by the MPD and the Department of Human Services.

As of press time Thursday, there was no word on the child’s condition or to the nature of those injuries.