Dad gets 22 years for abuse of infant son (Blountsville, Alabama)

Another case where Daddy--in this case JEFFERY SCOTT GOLD--virtually tortured the baby from birth. And yet everybody is making excuses for this piece of sh**, and droning on about abuser daddy's "good character." Barf.

Daddy was "too scared" to get the baby medical help after he beat the crap out of him? Double barf. Cowardly AND abusive.

So why do Daddy's enabler, in-denial parents now have custody? What happened to this baby's mom?

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9038643/father-gets-22-years-for-abuse-of-infant-son

Father gets 22 years for abuse of infant son
By Kacie Breeding

Published November 22nd, 2011 10:36 pm

BLOUNTVILLE — A Kingsport man whose infant son was hospitalized in October 2008 with a brain injury, fractured skull and other broken bones has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect.

Jeffery Scott Gold, 30, 1005 Catawba St., was sentenced Monday to 22 years in prison with 100 percent service required at the end of a lengthy sentencing hearing in Sullivan County Circuit Court. He was also fined $100,000.

Gold had faced 15 to 25 years on each count, with Sullivan County Assistant District Attorney Julie Canter arguing in favor of lengthy, consecutive sentences.

Gold’s convictions stem from allegations that he intentionally caused his infant son to suffer a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, six broken ribs, a broken leg, and bruising all over his body sometime during the first 44 days of his life. The abuse was believed to have occurred sometime between Oct. 1, 2008, and Oct. 19, 2008. During the sentencing hearing, the toddler was described as suffering no lasting ill-effects from his injuries.

During his sentencing, Gold read a prepared statement in which he thanked family and friends for their support, apologized to his son, and pleaded with the judge to be merciful.

“I’m sorry to my son, Colton, with all my love in the world,” Gold said.

He also expressed regret that the boy might someday read of the charges against him and expressed the hope that “he won’t remember the accident.”

Several family members and friends testified on Gold’s behalf. They described him as a man of good character and rejected medical testimony Canter cited that said the child’s injuries were not accidental.

Several agreed with Sullivan County Assistant Public Defender Andrew Gibbons, who asked whether they would consider it “an aberration, rather than the norm,” if Gold did what he was accused of doing to his son.

Gold’s mother, Judy Kibler, and stepfather, Frank Kibler, who have been awarded permanent guardianship of the boy, each described Gold as a responsible, hard-working adult.

“I did not, and still do not, believe he willfully or purposefully harmed his child,” Frank Kibler said.

Judy Kibler echoed her husband’s position.

When questioned about her son’s failure to get immediate medical help for his son, she said: “He was scared out of his mind.”

One friend and former co-worker, David Anderson, said Gold is the godfather of one of his children.

“Whatever happened, I know that wasn’t Gold, just by the way he is,” Anderson said.

Another friend, Laurey Conway, said that as his mother’s best friend she has known Gold his entire life. She said that Gold’s purchase of a house, baby furniture and baby clothes for the child, and his act of taking in the baby’s mother when she lost her job, all demonstrate his “character” and “integrity.” She added that Gold has kept her son before, and that she trusts him.

“I don’t think Jeffrey intentionally inflicted these injuries on the child,” she said. “I think there are other circumstances that could have been looked at.”

In deciding to give Gold less than the maximum and choosing not to order consecutive sentencing, Circuit Judge Jerry Beck said he was giving Gold “some consideration of the life he’s lived up to point that he committed these crimes.”

“Generally, up until his conviction — and he’s got a drug problem now that’s not been tried, and he’s got a serious problem involving the child — but in many respects, you can’t judge a man’s whole life on one or two problems he’s had in his life with the law,” Beck said.

Beck went on to add, “I guess all men are judged on how they conduct themselves, and the defendant has shown, approximately 25 years, I guess, of following the law, doing the right thing, working every day, doing the things we expect ordinary people to do according to their ability. So that deserves some consideration.”

Prior to committing the offenses, Beck noted that Gold had graduated from high school, attended some college classes, and had received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army in 2006 after three years of service due to a service-related injury to his left hand. He also noted that Gold had maintained steady employment after his military service ended. He also considered that, although Gold acquired some drug charges while out on bond in this case, he is innocent of those offenses until the case is tried.

Beck said that while the acts Gold committed “were certainly dangerous,” he did not find Gold to be a “dangerous offender,” and therefore consecutive sentencing did not apply.

In sentencing Gold to more than the minimum, however, Beck further noted that the extent of the victim’s vulnerability also deserved some weight.

“This case is a horrible case from the standpoint of the injuries inflicted,” he said.

According to testimony at Gold’s September trial, the baby’s injuries were discovered when his mother, Shannon Evans — then Gold’s live-in girlfriend — took him to Holston Valley Medical Center on the evening of Oct. 19, 2008. Gold allegedly refused to accompany Evans and the baby to the hospital, telling Evans the cost of the visit was “not coming out of my pocket.” He did join them there about an hour later.

Gold had initially told Kingsport police that he didn’t know how his son’s injuries had occurred. During the trial, he testified that on Oct. 19, 2008, he had fallen down a flight of stairs in his home while holding the infant that morning. He said Evans was sleeping at the time.

In the state’s final closing argument, Canter questioned why Gold never gave police that explanation. She also cited medical testimony that some of the infant’s injuries appeared older than others, and that it would be difficult to attribute such an array of injuries to a single incident.

In his closing argument, Gibbons reiterated Gold’s defense — that the injuries were the result of an accident. He challenged whether the state had proven otherwise beyond a reasonable doubt and told the jury that “evidence of injuries” was not equal to “evidence of abuse.”

After the hearing, Gibbons announced his intent to file a motion for a new trial.