A tiger doesn't change his stripes.
Dad ROBERT WILFRED LONG JR was convicted back in 1991 for murdering his 5-week-old son, but Daddy got early release from prison. Almost twenty years later, Daddy is "facing charges related to the death" of his 6-week-old son. The family had reported the baby as "missing."
I wish I could say these "repeater" child abusers and killers are unusual, but they aren't.
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=11890331
Baby found dead inside SUV; father faces charges
Posted: Jan 27, 2010 3:53 PM CST
Updated: Jan 28, 2010 6:37 AM CST
By Marisela Burgos
Posted by Charles Gazaway
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A 44-year-old Louisville man is facing charges related to the death of his six-week-old son. After being questioned by Metro Police, Robert Wilfred Long Junior was charged late Wednesday with menacing, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse.
According to Dwight Mitchell, a LMPD spokesperson, the Crimes Against Children Unit received a call around 10 a.m. Wednesday about the missing infant from the family of the baby. Mitchell said the boy may have disappeared as early as Monday.
Around 3:50 p.m. Wednesday, the investigation led detectives to a SUV parked in the driveway of a home in the 5500 block of Ridgecrest Road. Mary Simpson, a Ridgecrest Road resident, was home when officers surrounded the black SUV and broke out the front right passenger window.
"I'd seen them breaking the window in that truck," said Simpson. "I didn't know a baby was in there."
Mitchell said the missing baby was found dead inside the SUV. How the baby died is not yet clear. The Jefferson County Coroner's office said they will conduct an autopsy on Thursday. Police immediately took the father of the infant, later identified by police as Long, into custody.
Simpson has lived on Ridgecrest Road for over 30 years and never imagined she would witness what she saw unfold Wednesday afternoon.
"Oh, it scared me to death, Simpson said. "I got a little grandbaby I'm raising. I've had him since he was 17 months. I just don't know how somebody could be that cruel."
Long is being held at Louisville Metro Corrections and is expected to appear before a judge Thursday morning. Metro Police say Long could face more charges, depending on the results of the autopsy on the baby.
We learned Long has a long criminal history, which includes other charges regarding the death of an infant. In 1991, Long was convicted of murdering his five-week-old son. He told police the child slipped and fell down ten steps, but the medical examiner ruled the injuries were consistent with child abuse. In May 1992, a jury found long guilty and recommended he be sentenced to 35 years in prison, but he was released early.