Gorham arrested by Paducah Police Department

Dustin J. Gorham, 30, of Marshall Road, Paducah, arrested on a charge of first-degree criminal abuse (child 12 or under)

A man twice convicted of abusing children was arrested Saturday night, this time charged with harming a two-year-old girl.

Police were called about 12:30 p.m. Saturday to the Baptist Health Paducah Emergency Room by a Social Services representative. A two-year-old had been brought to the ER with fractures to her left tibia, right femur and the left side of her skull.

The child’s mother was in the hospital, having given birth on Sept. 20, and the child was left in the care of the mother’s boyfriend, Dustin J. Gorham. Gorham’s mother brought the child to the hospital.

Gorham told Det. Jason Hicks that the child fell from a bed about 2:30 a.m. Saturday. However, hospital staff said a fall from a bed would not have caused the child’s injuries.

Gorham was arrested on a charge of first-degree criminal abuse (child 12 or under) and booked into McCracken County Regional Jail.

Paducah police detectives are well-acquainted with Gorham, having arrested him on charges of second-degree criminal abuse of a child in 2006 and 2016.

In 2006, Gorham was convicted of second-degree criminal abuse, for abusing a 7-month-old child. He was sentenced to five years in prison and served two years, eight and a half months before being paroled. 2

In 2016, Gorham was convicted of two counts of second-degree criminal abuse. The victim in that case was five years old. He was sentenced on July 18, 2016, to three years in prison on each count, to run concurrently. He was released on parole on June 5, 2017. His parole ended less than 10 months ago, on Dec. 4, 2017.