Dad jailed for 2 years for "severely disabling" 1-month-old daughter (London, Ontario, Canada)

UNNAMED DAD has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for "severely disabling" his 1-month-old daughter. Note that the assaults started when the mother was pregnant (and probably took place even before the pregnancy), and continued from there. But also note that the worst assault took place when the mother was "out of town" (it doesn't sound like she had much choice about it either).

http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2010/01/08/12388746-sun.html

Friday, January 8, 2010

Father jailed for harm to month-old daughter
FAMILY VIOLENCE

By JANE SIMS, THE LONDON FREE PRESS

Last Updated: 8th January 2010, 9:21am

When she was still in her mother's womb, her father kicked her mother on some stairs and threw her against a kitchen wall.

Just a month into her life, her father would "chuck" her onto the couch.

Yesterday, the 28-year-old London father was sentenced to two years in prison to be followed by three years probation for severely disabling his youngest child.

"Hopefully he'll get assistance there -- he'll need it," said Ontario Court Justice John Getliffe when sentencing the man who hung his head in shame in the prisoner's box.

"Without treatment, this man will continue to be a danger both to his family and the public."

Assistant Crown attorney Karen Bellehumeur said both police and the Children's Aid Society has been involved with the family.

The man and his common law partner have three children together, ages 5, 3 and 1. The woman has two other children who are 8 and 9.

The nine-year-old told police he saw his mother assaulted twice by the man while she was pregnant.

Once he kicked her on the basement steps and she was able to balance herself and protect her stomach.

On the other occasion, while eating together at the kitchen table, the man was yelling and threw the woman against the wall. The nine-year-old protected the other children by putting a chair in front of them while pleading for the man to stop.

The baby was born healthy in November, 2008. A month later, the family travelled out of town for Christmas.

The man's mother drove the man, the baby and his two other children back to London two days later, Bellehumeur said.

The next day, the man called his spouse to say something was wrong with the baby girl. He said he had been sleeping on the couch with the baby on his chest and she fell off. The baby was crying.

The man's mother drove the children's mother back to London the next day.

When they arrived at the home, it was clear something was wrong with the baby. She was seizing on her left side.

They took the baby to a walk-in clinic and were ordered to go directly to the Children's Hospital of Western Ontario.

The baby stopped breathing at the hospital and had to be resuscitated.

A CT scan showed she had suffered an inter-cranial hemorrhage.

Initially, the mother of the children said the baby was injured when she was sleeping on her chest. The story did not match the injuries that included bruising to the baby's head and face.

The baby had seizures for three days and had multiple retinal injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

It was the five-year-old who told police the baby was hurt while they were in the care of their father.