(KNZA)--A Hiawatha man accused of causing a severe head injury to a child stood mute during his arraignment Monday in Brown County District Court.

Brown County Attorney Kevin Hill says the court entered a not guilty plea on behalf of 25-year-old Frankie Rodriguez to charges of aggravated battery and felony child abuse.

Hill says a pre-trial hearing was set for January 9th.

Rodriguez was arrested in late August following an investigation by the Hiawatha Police Department and Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The investigation was launched after a two-year-old girl was brought to the Hiawatha Community Hospital on August 26th with a severe head injury.  The child was later flown to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, where she remains hospitalized.

Rodriguez remains in the Brown County Jail, held on a $500,000 bond.