Deadbeat dad charged with assaulting 12-week-old daughter; baby in medically induced coma with severe head injury (Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts)

Dad is identified as SHAUN SICSICO.

http://mvgazette.com/news/2013/07/29/oak-bluffs-father-accused-inflicting-severe-brain-injury-child

Oak Bluffs Father Accused of Inflicting Severe Brain Injury on Child

Sara Brown Monday, July 29, 2013 - 2:45pm

A 19-year-old Oak Bluffs man was arraigned Monday morning on a charge of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury after his infant daughter allegedly sustained a severe brain injury.

According to Cape and Islands assistant district attorney Laura Marshard, Shaun Sicsico’s 12-week-old daughter was brought to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital Saturday evening with a severe brain injury. The child was later airlifted to Boston Children’s Hospital.

Doctors said the injuries were consistent with abuse, Ms. Marshard said in court, including bruising on all four limbs. A doctor said the child was in a medically-induced coma with a fatal brain injury, according to Ms. Marshard, and the injuries were consistent with landing on something soft like a bed or couch.

Ms. Marshard said Mr. Sicsico was interviewed by state police and Oak Bluffs police Det. Nicholas Curelli, and he allegedly told police that he had spun the child and may have spun her too hard. After that, two people came to the home and the child appeared to be having a seizure, she said, and the visitors insisted that the child be brought to the hospital.

A statement of facts by Detective Curelli said attending physicians and Dr. Alice Newton, the medical director of child protection at the hospital, believe the injuries are consistent with abuse, he wrote, and the injuries most likely occurred sometime Saturday.

The parents of the child brought the child to the hospital, he said, and Mr. Sicsico was arrested after being interviewed. The Department of Children and Families has emergency legal custody of the victim, he said.

“Further charges may follow upon worsening of victim’s condition,” Detective Curelli wrote.

Ms. Marshard said the mother of the child, Mr. Sicsico’s girlfriend, was in Boston with the child. Ms. Marshard requested bail of $75,000.

Two women cried in court as the facts of the case were discussed.

Attorney Ryan Searle, representing Mr. Sicsico during the arraignment, requested bail of $1,500, and said Mr. Sicsico indicated that he had never harmed, shaken or hurt the child.

Ms. Searle said Mr. Sicsico said the child had been acting strangely on the day she was brought to the hospital, and that the baby seemed to be having a seizure.

Ms. Searle said Mr. Sicsico is unemployed and has lived on the Vineyard for the last two years. Bail was set at $50,000 by district court Judge Thomas Barrett, and Mr. Sicsico was ordered not to have contact with the child. Robert Manning was appointed as his attorney, and a pretrial hearing scheduled for Thursday, August 1.