ILLINOIS: Man accused of punching girlfriend's toddler

BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - An unemployed roofer is jailed on $500,000 bond in southwestern Illinois after being accused of beating his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter.

Authorities in St. Clair County say the toddler is in critical condition at a hospital, where surgeons have removed a quarter of her intestines. She also has a previously broken leg and is being fed through a tube.

Sheriff's Capt. Steve Johnson says investigators believe 24-year-old Kraig Monroe was babysitting the girl in his Belleville-area trailer home when he repeatedly punched her in the stomach in hopes of silencing her crying. Monroe is charged with aggravated battery of a child.

Monroe couldn't be reached for comment. He doesn't have a listed telephone number, and it isn't clear if he has an attorney.

-- Associated Press