Dad sentenced to 18 years for abusing 3-month-old daughter (Carlsbad, New Mexico)

Daddy ARTHUR "TREY" MCCLINTOCK III has been found guilty of abusing his 3-month-old daughter--who may have permanent brain damage and developmental disabilities as a result. Notice that Daddy was "caretaking" while Mom was forced to work. Same old excuses. He was "frustrated."

http://www.currentargus.com/ci_18443491

Father sentenced to 18 years for child abuse

From the Current-Argus
Posted: 07/08/2011 08:59:02 PM MDT

CARLSBAD — A 19-year-old father has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after being found guilty of child abuse involving his infant daughter.

In a two-day jury trial in Fifth Judicial District Court in May, jurors found Arthur "Trey" McClintock III guilty of child abuse - intentional and resulting in great bodily harm.

According to documents filed in court, the 18-year jail term is to be followed by two years on parole; and due to the nature of the offense and the resulting harm of the violent crime, McClintock's good behavior credit will not exceed a maximum of four days per month of time served, ordered Judge Thomas A. Rutledge, who presided over the trial, as well as the sentencing hearing in June.

McClintock, represented by Shawn Lunsford, testified at the trial, saying he may have used "too much force" with his daughter, Baylee McClintock.

Carlsbad police began an investigation in the spring of 2010 after emergency medical personnel were called to McClintock's home in the 2700 block of Eunice in response to a baby having seizures.

Three-month-old Baylee was taken to the Carlsbad Medical Center emergency room where she continued to have seizures, along with decreased heart rate and low temperatures.

She was flown to a Lubbock, Texas, hospital where a CT scan revealed multiple subdural hemorrhages in her head in various stages of healing. These injuries indicated non-accidental trauma, and hospital staff notified the Carlsbad Police Department.

According to the criminal complaint filed by Detective Sgt. Chris Kohler, Baylee had been left with McClintock by her mother, Sharon Lactaoen, who was going to her job.

McClintock said the baby was napping when she suddenly began screaming uncontrollably. Baylee had reportedly begun having seizures when she was 3 weeks old, and McClintock said she appeared to be having another one. He put cold water on her head before trying to call Lactaoen for help. Failing to reach her or her parents, he ran outside yelling for help and a neighbor called 911.

During his interview with Kohler, McClintock described how he had treated the baby during other seizures. He said he had left bruises on the child when he pinched her to keep her from falling asleep during a seizure. Once, he said, he held her the wrong way, and because of his size - 6 feet tall and weighing 300 pounds - he left bruises on her shoulders.

Over the next few days of the investigation, McClintock's stories to police changed several times. Police also learned from the mother that every time Baylee had experienced injuries, she was under her father's care.

Eventually, McClintock admitted that he was the cause of Baylee's condition, but he did not want to come forward with the information because he was afraid of losing his daughter and going to jail.

He said the pressures of life had gotten to him, and he had unintentionally taken his frustration out on his daughter. As an example, he described incidents when he slammed the baby onto her bed.

Baylee's white and pink crib was placed in front of jurors at the trial, and McClintock used a toy teddy bear to show how hard he placed Baylee into the bed in an earlier instance. McClintock dropped the bear onto the mattress.

Baylee was hospitalized in Lubbock for some six days, near death for four of those days.

She was found to have bleeding into the brain and swelling of the brain. She also had a skull fracture and hemorrhaging in the retinas of her eyes, leaving her permanently blind although possibly responsive to some light.

Doctors say she may suffer permanent disabilities, but it is too early to know the extent.

According to one of the state's witnesses at the trial, a representative from the Children, Youth and Families Department, Baylee, now 17 months old, is developing more slowly than other children her age.