Overview

• A two-month-old was treated at Norton Children's Hospital in Louisville for three bilateral healing rib fractures, triggering a law enforcement referral.
• Hardin County investigators and Child Protective Services opened a case after meeting the child's mother at the hospital.
• Police identified the father as 26-year-old Austin Webster, who told investigators he tried a social-media method to address the baby's gastrointestinal symptoms.
• Webster was arrested on Oct. 1 and booked into the Hardin County Detention Center on second-degree criminal abuse, a Class D felony.
• A preliminary hearing is set for Oct. 10, and authorities urge parents to seek licensed medical advice rather than unverified online remedies.