Soldier’s abuse hospitalized newborn, then he did it again in Virginia, feds say
A former Army private is accused of shaking and dropping a newborn girl on two separate occasions, causing skull fractures and other injuries, federal prosecutors in Virginia said.
The man pleaded guilty May 30 to two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of sexual abuse, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a news release.
Along with harming the infant, he’s also accused of sexually abusing his wife, prosecutors said.
McClatchy News isn’t naming him to protect the identities of the woman and child.
The man’s attorney denied McClatchy News’ request for comment on June 3.
The then-soldier was living on Fort Belvoir in Virginia when he “snapped” on June 25, 2012, and “rapidly, forcefully, and willfully” shook the 16-day-old girl “before letting go of her,” prosecutors said in a statement of facts filed in court.
“When (he) relinquished his grip, (the baby) flipped in the air and landed on her head approximately two or three feet away from him,” the court filing said.
The man told his wife — the child’s mother — that he’d dropped the baby by accident and “had successfully broken her fall with his foot,” according to the court filing.
The baby’s skull was fractured and she was hospitalized for about 10 days, prosecutors said.
The day the child was discharged, the man “again rapidly, forcefully, and willfully shook (the baby) and dropped her” while alone with her, the court filing said.
He didn’t tell the child’s mother what happened, according to the court filing.
The baby “was lethargic, would not feed, and was occasionally twitching,” the court filing said, and the child eventually was hospitalized again with a new skull fracture and other injuries.
She later underwent brain surgery and now “is legally blind, non-verbal, and the entire right side of her body is paralyzed,” the court filing said. She also uses a feeding tube.
In a separate incident, the man is accused of sexually abusing his wife in 2013, according to prosecutors.
The man faces up to life behind bars when he’s sentenced in August, prosecutors said.
Fort Belvoir is about a 100-mile drive north from Richmond.
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