Dad accused of throwing 13-week-old son, "accidentally" slamming baby's head (Lincoln, Nebraska)

Note that the mother is not accused of abuse--in fact, she took the baby to the emergency room--but she has lost custody anyway.

Why in the world would we assume that dad VICTOR PATTERSON SR. "accidentally" slammed the baby's head, when it appears that this dimwit was perfectly capable of throwing a 13-week-old infant into a coffee table because he was "upset"? Sounds like the head slamming could been deliberate to me. But you see this a lot in abuser daddy stories. All these guys who are perfectly coordinated when it comes to handling a ball in basketball or football can't manage to avoid "accidentally" slamming the baby's head into a cabinet. Bull crap.

http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/father-accused-of-throwing--week-old/article_0be403f4-9a0e-53d2-ad5f-bb4e557ee9fb.html

Father accused of throwing 13-week-old

By ZACH PLUHACEK / Lincoln Journal Star JournalStar.com |
Posted: Monday, March 19, 2012 10:00 pm

A Lincoln man is accused of throwing his 13-week-old son into a coffee table while upset, then accidentally slamming the baby's head into the bottom of an open medicine cabinet the same day.

A doctor at Children's Hospital in Omaha discovered Victor Patterson Jr. had a skull fracture, five broken ribs, a lacerated liver and a broken collarbone. The boy's mother took him to the emergency room at BryanLGH Medical Center East on Thursday evening after he kept vomiting his baby formula.

Police believe earlier that day, the boy's father, Victor Patterson Sr., squeezed him hard enough to break his ribs, and, after setting him on a counter near their bathroom sink, jerked him upward, hitting the baby's head against the cabinet in their apartment at 1523 Superior St., according to an affidavit by Investigator Michael Barry of the Lincoln Police Department's Family Crimes Unit.

Weeks earlier, the boy's collarbone was broken when his father squeezed him tightly, the affidavit says.

Patterson Sr., who turned 25 Saturday, the same day he was arrested, appeared in Lancaster County Court on Monday on a charge of felony child abuse. Judge Jean Lovell set his bond at 10 percent of $25,000. He remained in custody Monday.

Authorities already had taken custody of the baby boy and a 15-month-old daughter.