Dad who beat up mom, threatened to kill 2-year-old son by throwing him off 7-story parking garage gets time in county jail, probation (Lower Saucon, Pennsylvania)

So typical of the coddling that abusive fathers get. Dad ROBERT WILKINSON flies into a rage, threatening to kill his wife and 2-year-old son. Beats up the mother and pushes her out of the car. Takes off with the son and goes to a 7-story parking garage and threaten to kill the boy and himself. The police rescue his worthless @$$. Mom gets an order of protection (yay! a piece of paper!) And the little boy who as nightmares and separation anxiety is subjected to SUPERVISED VISITATION. Why? Fathers rights, doncha know! Apparently it's okay for little children to be retraumatized again and again.

Oh, and the headline! Not true. Dad is NOT doing prison time. He's doing 2-3 months in the county jail and then he's on probation. This mother will be spending the next few years looking over her shoulder. But then women and children are denied the rights to basic safety and security, aren't they!

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-bethlehem-suicidal-father-sands-parking-lot-rescue-20150327-story.html

Father who threatened to kill son, self, gets prison time

Robert Wilkinson, 40, of Lower Saucon, was given a jail sentence for pushing his wife from a car before driving to the top of the Sands Bethlehem parking garage and threatening to kill himself and his 2-year-old son.

By Riley Yates Of The Morning Call

Defendant 'is a ticking psychological time bomb,' Northampton County judge says

'He used his son as a pawn,' prosecutor says of man who threatened to toss tot off parking deck

A Northampton County prosecutor called Robert W. Wilkinson a manipulative and controlling man who used his 2-year-old son as a chip to get back at his wife as their marriage failed..

A defense attorney labeled Wilkinson an otherwise law-abiding person who suffered a mental-health crisis that he deeply regrets.

Both were talking about the Lower Saucon Township man's actions on Aug. 12, when he beat up his wife and pushed her from their car, then drove off with their son to the top of the seven-story Sands casino parking garage, where he phoned 911 and threatened to kill himself and his boy, according to court records.

For that, Wilkinson will serve a prison sentence, though his lawyer, Gavin Holihan, argued it would serve no purpose. On Friday, Senior Judge Leonard Zito gave the 40-year-old defendant two to four months in county jail and three years of probation after Wilkinson previously pleaded guilty to charges of simple assault and reckless endangerment.

In so doing, Zito described Wilkinson as an unstable man who has had several unsuccessful marriages and has struggled to hold jobs for any extended period of time.

"This incident begins while they are driving to the psychiatrist's," Zito said. "Now that should tell you something."
Wilkinson, he said, "is a ticking psychological time bomb. Tick. Tick. Tick."

When Bethlehem police arrived at the Sands garage, they found Wilkinson sitting on the edge of the seventh story of the deck, holding his toddler, record courts state. The officers, Michael DiLuzio and
Blake Kuntz, talked the distraught man into surrendering the boy, then were able to tackle Wilkinson as he tried to leap to his demise.

In court, Wilkinson's estranged wife, Jennifer Wilkinson, stood feet from him as she read from a victim impact statement, her hand that held the paper trembling uncontrollably as she did. She told Zito that her son continues to have nightmares at home and in day care and gets scared when she is out of his sight.

She recounted the assault she suffered at Wilkinson's hands, saying that he threw her cell phone out of the car window, tore off her jewelry and began beating her.

"He threatened to kill all of us by speeding into a barrier, then, as he stopped the car and pushed me out, he told me he would kill our son," she said.

The defendant's actions are telling of what kind of man he is, said Assistant District Attorney Erika Farkas.

"He used his son as a pawn," Farkas said.

Jennifer Wilkinson is seeking divorce, and has been granted a restraining order against her husband. She has custody of their child, with Wilkinson permitted only supervised visits of two hours a week, according to a legal filing.

Holihan said his client knows he traumatized his son, his wife and the officers who responded. After his arrest, Wilkinson checked himself into an inpatient mental-health facility and has continued to receive outpatient counseling, Holihan said.

Wilkinson told Zito that he never intended to hurt his child. The reason he called 911 that August day was that he didn't want his son to be left alone in a hot car after he jumped from the deck, he said.

"Those officers saved my life," Wilkinson said.