Dad charged with shaking 3-month-old son (Rochester, Minnesota)

Dad LEON NGUYEN is in jail for "allegedly" shaking his 3-month-old son.

http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S1182786.shtml?cat=10226

Posted at: 10/08/2009 7:12 PM
By: Sarah Swistak

Man Charged with Shaking Son

(ABC 6 NEWS) -- A Rochester man is in jail after he allegedly injured his infant son by shaking him.

The staff at Saint Mary's Hospital called police Saturday afternoon after a three-month-old child came in with bleeding on the brain, but the baby's parents only spoke Vietnamese. So investigators with the Rochester Police Department and Social Services enacted a "safety plan."

"That's kind of typical in these cases where you don't know what happened to the child or if somebody did something to the child, so a safety plan is something where you can assure that there are multiple adults monitoring the child," said Rochester Police Lt. Dan Muyres.

Police were unable to find a Vietnamese interpreter until Monday, but when they interviewed 30-year-old Leon Nguyen, he allegedly confessed to shaking his son.

He now faces two felony charges of malicious punishment of a child and third-degree assault.

"Child abuse is a realistic issue in every community," said Child Care Resource and Referral Executive Director Patrick Gannon.

But the group wants everyone to know; they're here to help.

"We encourage people any time of the day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - if you are frustrated, whether you're a caretaker, a parent, a relative, any one that's taking care of a young child, if you're afraid you're going to hurt that young child - pick up the phone and call us - we'll be there," said Gannon.

That number is (507) 287-2020, and they're available any time day or night.

Nguyen is slated to appear in court again in two weeks.

His unconditional bail is set at 50-thousand dollars.