Dad charged with shaking 3-month-old daughter; baby has "very serious" brain injury (Haverhill, New Hampshire)

Dad IVAN ROSARIO has been charged with assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury. His 3-month-old daughter developed a "very serious" brain injury from being shaken. It appears that Dad shook her to stop her from crying. Which she did, as she had stopped breathing. Yet another teen dad who shouldn't have been around babies....

http://www.eagletribune.com/punewshh/local_story_337221923.html?keyword=secondarystory

Published: December 04, 2009 12:01 am

Father, charged with shaking baby, faces 15 years
Teenage dad is indicted, raising penalty

By Mike LaBella
mlabella@eagletribune.com

HAVERHILL — A teenage father accused of shaking his 3-month-old daughter and seriously injuring her has been indicted by a grand jury, increasing the number of years he may spend behind bars if convicted.

Ivan Rosario, 18, of Haverhill now faces the possibility of up to 15 years in state prison because the indictment moves his case to Salem Superior Court. If his case remained in Haverhill District Court, the maximum sentence he could have received was two and a half years in jail, according to state law.

Rosario is charged with assault and battery on a child causing substantial bodily injury.

Stephen O'Connell, spokesman for the district attorney's office, said Rosario was indicted "due to the severity of the baby's injuries."

An indictment means that a grand jury, composed of 23 citizens, has evaluated the evidence presented by the prosecution and indicated there is probable cause to believe a defendant has committed a crime and should be tried on the charges.

Rosario, of 46 S. Prospect St., is accused of shaking his infant daughter Yolisse Rivera on Nov. 8. She was taken to New England Medical Center in Boston for a brain injury, which O'Connell has described as "very serious."

Rosario was arraigned in Haverhill District Court on Nov. 10 and ordered held without bail in the Middleton jail. He was subsequently released on bail on Nov. 24 at a dangerousness hearing in Haverhill District Court.

At that hearing, the judge ordered Rosario to stay in his grandmother's house from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. He is only allowed out of the house to seek employment or to further his education and must have no contact with his daughter.

Last week, The Eagle-Tribune spoke to a young woman who came to the door at 46 S. Prospect St., where Rosario had been living, and said the baby girl is doing "very good." The woman would not provide her name or any additional information about the child.

According to investigators, Rosario was watching the baby as her mother prepared a bottle for the child. Rosario, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 220 pounds, told police he picked up the infant, held her over his head, and shook her in an effort to get her to stop crying. Police said he told them he did this several times and the crying stopped, but then she had trouble breathing.

The baby's mother, whose name is being withheld, came in from another room and they called 911. O'Connell said the 911 call was made Nov. 8 around 3:30 p.m.

He said Rosario was sharing the apartment with the baby's mother and her family members.

In addition to staying at his grandmother's house, Rosario must follow through on mental health treatment, is not to use any drugs or alcohol, must submit to screenings for those substances, and must comply with any conditions set forth by state social workers. He also must report to probation weekly.