Thursday, July 23, 2015

Dad assaults 3-month-old son, leaving him with permanent brain damage (San Antonio, Texas)

This basic description must cover thousands of cases like this. Deadbeat, easily "frustrated" daddy plays at caregiver because Mom has to hold a job and support his lazy @$$. Daddy assaults the baby, lies about it, and can't even be bothered to get medical help. Nope, Mom is the one who discovers the baby is injured after she gets home from and SHE is the one who rushes the baby to the hospital or calls 911. But by then, the baby is dead or permanently disabled. Happens again and again and again...

Dad is identified as JEREMY VALDERAS.

http://www.foxsanantonio.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/injured-infant-left-permanent-brain-damage-father-arrested-14489.shtml#.VbGnbP_bItg

Injured infant left with permanent brain damage, father arrested

Updated: Wednesday, July 22 2015, 09:51 PM CDT

SAN ANTONIO - Police have arrested a man they say hurt his own 3-month-old child, leaving the infant with 90% brain damage.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the victim was being cared for by his father, 21-year-old Jeremy Valderas, on July 8, 2015.

When the baby's mother returned home that evening from work, she found the baby was breathing abnormally and was struggling to open his eyes.

She rushed the child to a hospital, but was stopped by police on the way. EMS then took the baby to Methodist Children's Hospital where doctors said his brain injuries are consistent with shaken baby syndrome, the affidavit states

In court papers, Valderas denied harming the baby but did acknowledge he was the only person with the baby when the injuries reportedly occurred.

Investigators also said Valderas sent the child's mother text messages that conflicted with the statements he provided police. Valderas is now charged with injury to a child.

ChildSafe is an organization that helps children heal from all kinds of abuse and neglect.

"Unfortunately, when you're talking about child death, for children under the age of 4, according to the CDC, shaken baby syndrome is the leading cause of death for those children," explained Randy McGibeny, the ChildSafe director of programs. "It's okay for parents to walk away from that child, to place the child in the crib and take five, take ten minutes, take however long it needs for you to regain control of your emotions. "

ChildSafe is not involved in this case, but can help connect parents with resources they need to handle stressful situations.

"You might not think your child is going to remember these things that are happening to them but they absolutely will as they get older there will be an implicit memory that sticks with them their entire life, and not including the physical damage you may do to a child if you wind up shaking them," McGibeny explained.

You can always call 211 to connect with counseling programs and other resources through the United Way.