"Sole caregiver" dad pleads guilty to seriously injuring 5-month-old son (Lockport, New York)

Dad is identified as CHRISTOPHER T. FULLER JR.

Why was dad the "sole caretaker" for 36 hours? Was it because this was a child custody/visitation situation? Notice there is no mention of a mother in the home. In fact, there is no mention of the mother at all.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/lockport/lockport-father-changes-mind-pleads-guilty-to-injuring-infant-son-20140305

Lockport father changes mind, pleads guilty to injuring infant son

By Thomas Prohaska | News Niagara Reporter
on March 5, 2014 - 6:33 PM

LOCKPORT – A Lockport man, who last week rejected two plea offers for seriously injuring his five-month-old son, changed his mind Wednesday and accepted one of them.

Christopher T. Fuller Jr., 23, of Dysinger Road, agreed to serve a seven-year prison sentence for reckless assault of a child. The sentence, to be officially imposed April 30 by State Supreme Court Justice Richard C. Kloch Sr., will include three years of post-release supervision.

Fuller’s other option was to plead guilty to attempted first-degree assault, which would have given Kloch a choice of sentences between 3½ and 15 years behind bars.

Deputy District Attorney Holly E. Sloma said the injuries to Aiden Fuller, now nearly seven months old, occurred between Jan. 20 and 22.

“It happened during a 36-hour period when [Fuller] was the sole caregiver for the child,” Sloma said.

The charge said the baby was either shaken, slammed or thrown against a hard surface, or there was a twisting motion that injured him. Details of exactly what happened remain unclear.

Sloma said the baby boy suffered bleeding in the brain and in the eyes. She said the baby is now in the care of a family member, but declined to comment on his long-term prognosis.

The plea came prior to the case being submitted to a grand jury. Fuller could have been indicted on a first-degree assault charge, which carries a 25-year maximum sentence with a five-year mandatory minimum if he had been convicted as charged.

Assistant Public Defender Michael H. White asked on Fuller’s behalf if an order of protection could be revised to let Fuller see the child. Kloch declined, saying he didn’t think that was in anyone’s best interest.

Sloma said a final order of protection barring contact between Fuller and the baby for several years will be part of the sentence Kloch imposes.