A Columbus man will spend years in prison after admitting to assaulting a 2-year-old boy he was babysitting.
Nathan Bridges, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of felonious assault in connection to the May 2025 incident.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Julie Lynch sentenced Bridges to seven to 10½ years in prison.
According to court records, Bridges dropped off the 2-year-old boy with his mother on April 30, 2025. Bridges did not answer questions about why the boy appeared to have a swollen jaw.
Bridges was friends with the boy's mother and had been watching him, court records say.
On May 1, 2025, Columbus police and paramedics got a call to check on the 2-year-old's wellbeing after his mom continued to notice injuries. The boy was taken to Nationwide
Children's Hospital with serious, life-altering injuries, police said.
Court records say the boy had internal and external injuries consistent with being physically abused.
Editor Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man sentenced for beating 2-year-old boy he was babysitting
