Dad accused of abandoning baby in woods caught in Bend

(Update: Bail increased, details of Dec. 6 hearing)

An Ohio man accused of abandoning his baby in the woods south of Bend last spring was arrested Wednesday at a Bend motel by Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies acting on an anonymous tip. A nationwide warrant had been issued after he failed to show up for court earlier this month.

In a story that made headlines around the world, Brandon Blouin, 26, of Belpre, Ohio allegedly left his 1-year-old son, Bradley, in the woods last May 10 while he went looking for the boy’s mother after she took off. They were living in a car off China Hat Road. He told authorities he’d set the child down but could not find him.

An intensive six-hour search ended with a detective finding the child lying face-down in the dirt, cold but otherwise in good shape.

Blouin was accused of unlawfully taking the child from his grandmother in West Virginia, who is his legal guardian.

Blouin faces charges of abandonment of a child, child neglect, endangering the welfare of a minor, criminal mistreatment and being a felon in possession of body armor. He pleaded guilty to the charges in September, and a trial date was set for next April.

Sheriff’s detectives received an anonymous tip Wednesday that Blouin was staying at a Bend motel, Sgt. William Bailey said.

Detectives quickly determined Blouin was at the Motel 6 on Northeast Third Street and set up surveillance, assisted by Bend police, Bailey said.

Sheriff’s detectives arrested Blouin around 11:15 a.m. as he left his motel room and took him to the county jail, where he was held initially on $30,000 bail, later raised to $200,000.

At the time of his arrest, Blouin possessed a dagger-type knife, leading to an additional charge of being a felon in possession of a weapon, Bailey said.

Court records show he’s due back in court Dec. 6 on a motion to revoke release and set a hearing on the state’s notice regarding obtaining a mental health evaluation.