Dad on trial for beating of 8-month-old son; baby left with severe brain damage (Cambria County, Pennsylvania)

Dad JOHN RICHARD "RICKY" NARONE is currently on trial, charged with aggravated assault, child endangerment, and reckless endangerment in the beating death of his 8-week-old son.

Dad says he didn't do it (another account has him blaming Mom) though Dad was home alone with the baby. Huh? Did Mom abuse the baby through telepathy or remote control? What are you trying to tell us here, fella?

Mom says that Dad often punched her and hit the baby because he was annoyed when the baby was "fussy and crying."

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_068105854.html

Published: March 09, 2010 10:57 am

NEW – Cambria jury hears father’s hysterical 911 call

By Sandra K. Reabuck
The Tribune-Democrat

EBENSBURG — A Cambria County jury in the trial of a Middle Taylor Township man accused of beating his 8-week old son heard the tape of the 911 call the hysterical father made last March 30 seeking help for the baby who was having difficulty breathing.

John Richard “Ricky” Nerone told the dispatcher that the baby had “thrown his head back real hard” and had possibly broken his neck at the family’s home in the 800 block of Benshoff Hill Road.

Nerone could be heard begging and encouraging the infant, “Johnny, Johnny, breathe. Come on, buddy, breathe. You can do this buddy, please. Oh my God.”

The trial, which opened Monday, is continuing at the courthouse in Ebensburg. Nerone is charged with aggravated assault, child endangerment and reckless endangerment.

The defense is contending that the father, who said he was home alone with the baby, is not the abuser.

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/local_story_068145547.html

Published: March 09, 2010 02:54 pm

UPDATE – Wife testifies husband slapped, punched her and their infant son

By Sandra K. Reabuck
The Tribune-Democrat

EBENSBURG — A Johnstown area woman testified this afternoon that her husband slapped and punched both her and their infant son several times prior to last year’s incident that left her son with severe brain injuries.

Sara Nerone, 22, said that her husband often acted out when the baby, named Johnny, was fussy and crying. Her husband, John Richard “Ricky” Nerone is on trial in Cambria County Court for the physical assaults on both her and the child.

The mother testified that she had not told anyone about the abuse because she was scared of her husband and ashamed of what had been happening.

The defense is alleging that the mother - not the father - was the one who abused the child.

Earlier in the day, the jury heard the tape of the 911 calls the hysterical father made last March 30 seeking help for the baby who was having difficulty breathing.

Nerone told the dispatcher - and later the Johnstown police - that the baby had thrown back his head real hard and possibly broken his neck.