Dad who injured 10-week-old daughter sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison; girl faces lifelong disabilities (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

Dad JAMES VANDERHAM will serve just a little over 6 years in prison, while his daughter faces a lifetime of serious mental and physical disabilities. Notice all the excuses for Daddy. He was young, he had ADHD, wasn't the sharpest blade in the razer. But he was apparently shrewd enough to lie to the authorities about what had happened.  (Meanwhile, moms with serious psychotic illnesses are routinely blamed for their actions.) Daddy had been babysitting for only 90 MINUTES when he attacked the baby.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Edmonton+father+shook+injured+baby+sentenced+years+prison/5013040/story.html

Edmonton father who shook, injured baby sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison
By Alexandra Zabjek, edmontonjournal.com June 27, 2011

EDMONTON — As the adults in the courtroom spent hours Monday discussing prison sentences, three-year-old Taelyr Waluk’s head dipped toward her chest and the sound of her laboured breathing sometimes rose above their voices.

She is the toddler at the centre of a court case that saw her father sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison for shaking and choking her with such force she has been left with lifelong mental and physical disabilities.

Taelyr can’t hold her head up, she can’t eat, she has chronic lung problems and she is never expected to be able to understand discussions such as the one that took place in court.

“Some people wish for a million dollars, I just wish my granddaughter could hold up her head so she could swallow,” her grandmother, Brenda Waluk, said in her victim impact statement read during the sentencing hearing for James Vanderham.

It has been three years since the spring morning that Vanderham shook his 10-week-old daughter so hard that she was taken to hospital in a comatose state. Doctors did not expect her to live.

Vanderham pleaded guilty last year to aggravated assault.

During his sentencing hearing, defence lawyer Walter Raponi said Vanderham had been an immature, 20-year-old who acted in frustration when left alone with his daughter for the first time.

“He’s probably the poster child for an unskilled parent,” Walter Raponi said.

He wanted a prison sentence of two to four years, saying his client’s youth, low IQ, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder should be considered in sentencing.

Vanderham addressed the courtroom, half-filled with his family and supporters, and apologized to his daughter. He said he loves her and hopes to see her again.

“I know I’ve failed you as a father....I can never apologize enough to you or all the people this has effected.”

Crown prosecutor Tania Holland suggested a sentence of eight to 10 year.

Vanderham tried to minimize his actions in interviews with a psychiatrist when he denied “choking” his child, instead saying he merely placed one finger on her vocal cords to stop her from crying, she said.

“He was in the ultimate position of trust toward this young baby.”

Holland said the assault occurred in the 90 minutes he had been left alone with his daughter, while his then-girlfriend went out to get asthma medication. The couple had just moved into a house.

Holland said Vanderham initially misled police and medical professionals about what happened to his daughter.

It was at the end of several hours of questioning that he admitted to shaking and choking Taelyr to stop her crying. He said she then fell out of his arms and hit the floor.

Taelyr now lives in Sherwood Park with her mother and maternal grandparents. Her mother, Hailey Waluk, told court she’ll forever feel guilty for leaving her infant daughter alone with Vanderham. She recalled the painful decision she and her family made to take Taelyr off life support after nine days of intense treatment.

Doctors expected the child to live for 30 seconds after being removed from the machines. Instead, she chose to live Taelyr’s family said.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Stephen Hillier said Taelyr Waluk “is special, she is her unique self. But she is not alone

“We owe it to Taelyr and others to identify and implement every strategy possible to reduce the risk that this happens again.”

Outside court, Hailey Waluk said she didn’t think her daughter will ever get justice. “She’ll have to live with this for the rest of her life.”