"Good" dad pleads guilty to assaulting young son; baby had fractured skull (Lawrence, Massachusetts)

Dad JUSTIN KASPEROWITZ has pleaded guilty to shaking and striking his young son hard enough to fracture his skull; the brain damage left him temporarily blind and deaf. But we're told he's still a "good father." This is how low the bar has been set for "good" fathers these days....We're supposed to be grateful that Daddy didn't kill him outright? Of course, Daddy gets a slap on the wrist sentence for this assault on a helpless child....

http://www.eagletribune.com/local/x1666059380/Dad-pleads-guilty-to-baby-shaking

January 4, 2012

Dad pleads guilty to baby shaking
Mom says he's been a good father; he can be released in 6 months

Julie Manganis
Staff Writer The Eagle Tribune Wed Jan 04, 2012, 12:53 AM EST


LAWRENCE — A Lawrence man will spend a year in jail after pleading guilty yesterday to charges he shook and struck his young son hard enough to leave the child temporarily blind and deaf more than a year ago.

Justin Kasperowitz, 21, of 29 Beacon St., Lawrence pleaded guilty to charges of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury and with injury during a plea hearing yesterday morning in Salem Superior Court.

The child's name is Jayden Garcia. The incident happened Nov. 5, 2010.

A prosecutor had urged state prison time for Kasperowitz, but under what is known as a "split" sentence, Judge Timothy Feeley imposed a 2 1/2 year term in the house of correction, with one year to be served and the balance suspended for three years. During that three years, Kasperowitz will be on probation, required to take part in parenting classes and undergo a mental health evaluation.

He will be eligible for release from jail on parole after serving six months.

Kasperowitz's lawyer Jessica Thrall had suggested straight probation, which would, she said, prevent Kasperowitz from picking up the influences of other inmates, and instead allow him to rebuild a relationship with both the victim and his other son, and their mother.

"He has really wanted to do the right thing since the beginning," said Thrall.

The mother of the victim told Feeley in a victim impact statement that Kasperowitz "has been a good father to both of my kids."

"His kids need him, in my point of view," the child's mother told the judge.

Prosecutor A.J. Camelio suggested that the severity of the injuries to the child, who suffered a skull fracture — investigators aren't certain whether he was struck with an object or slammed into something — and the fact that the incidents that led to the injuries occurred on two separate occasions, called for a harsher penalty.

Feeley said he shared the concern that the child's injuries were severe and said both the defendant, his mother, and the public should be "thankful" that the child has recovered as well as he has. But he said he was taking into account not only the wishes of the victim's mother, who wants to resume a relationship with Kasperowitz when he's released from jail, but the fact that Kasperowitz has accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty.