PALM BAY, Fla. -- A 9 month old was in critical condition Sunday after suffering what police described as a severe beating.

The boyfriend of the boy's mother was arrested Saturday night by Palm Bay Police and charged with aggravated child abuse.

According to a police spokeswoman, the child was left in the care of 25 year old Jason Welch at Welch's home on Parsons Circle when the mother of the baby went to work Saturday.

Around 5pm, Welch called the mother and said the child had fallen off the couch and "didn't look right".

He took the boy to the mother's workplace and she noticed several bruises.

She took the child to the emergency room at a local hospital where Palm Bay detectives responded, interviewing the mother and Welch.

Welch reportedly told detectives that he didn't know how the baby got the bruises, which were on his head, face and lower back.

After talking to police, Welch was arrested and charged with beating the child.

Doctors told police that the injuries to the boy are severe and life threatening.

Welch, who recently moved to Palm Bay from Massachusetts, has been booked into the Brevard County Jail.

Police said the investigation into the child's beating is continuing and charges could be amended if the baby does not survive.

The baby has been transferred to a hospital in Orlando.