"Stay-at-home" dad pleads guilty to abusing crying 3-month-old daughter (Farmington, New Mexico)

Here's the politically incorrect reality. Most healthy, virile young men are not cut out to be full-time infant caretakers. This one certainly wasn't. Though JASON CALKINS was a "stay-at-home" dad, he had no more patience with crying babies and the demands of young children then any other average male. In fact, just like the dad from Connecticut (see the post two posts below), he was resorting to pot smoking in order to "cope." And did a pretty stinking job of it too, given that this baby almost died from the violent shaking he administered. As all the studies show, the majority of baby shakers are in fact fathers--even though fathers represent a minority of full-time infant caretakers.

http://www.daily-times.com/ci_16805793

Father pleads guilty to shaking baby girl
By Elizabeth Piazza The Daily Times
Posted: 12/08/2010 02:39:31 AM MST

FARMINGTON — The father accused of shaking his 3-month-old baby in April after she wouldn't stop crying pleaded guilty Tuesday in district court.

Jason Calkins, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony child abuse under a plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office.

"I guess I just lost it for a brief moment," Calkins said in court.

Calkins told District Judge Sandra Price that at the time of the incident, he "was having a lot of problems with my relationship with (the baby's mother)."

He was watching several other children and the baby would not stop crying, according to police records.

The stay-at-home dad demonstrated the incident, using a tissue box during an interview with police.

"With hands on either side of the box, he shook it violently," according to the police record.

Police reported Calkins smoked marijuana both before and after the incident. He told police "he gets frustrated and yells, slams doors and even got mad enough to hit things," according to police records.

The effects of the shaking were noticeable within minutes.

"She had blood in her eyes, she was having seizures," Calkins said in court.

The baby was treated at San Juan Regional Medical Center before being flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.

"But for the medical attention she received, it's entirely likely she would have died," Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O'Brien said in court.

The baby, following the incident, was vomiting, lethargic and suffering from seizures. Tests at the hospital in Albuquerque showed the baby was not swallowing properly, a possible indication of brain damage. She was placed on a feeding tube to prevent her from choking, according to police records.

Although the extent, if any, of damage won't be known for several years as the baby develops, an October evaluation stated the girl appears to have made a full recovery.

She continues to take anti-seizure medication, Ron Brambl, Calkin's attorney said.

Price reserved sentencing Calkins, who faces up to nine years in prison for the incident, up to a $10,000 fine and two years of parole, pending the outcome of a pre-sentence report.

Calkins has no felony criminal history.