Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Dad charged in abuse of 6-week-old son (Springfield, Missouri)


Dad is identified as IVAN S. POPOVICH.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/20120418/NEWS01/304180071/popovich-charged-child-abuse?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CSpecial%20Reports%7Cp

Father charged in abuse
Infant on respirator at Mercy Hospital

5:28 AM, Apr. 18, 2012
A Springfield man faces charges of shaking his 6-week-old son, causing bleeding to the brain.

Ivan S. Popovich was charged in Greene County circuit court with abuse of a child, a class C felony. According to a probable cause statement, Popovich, born in 1990, first said he dropped the child but later admitted shaking the boy after he wouldn’t stop crying.

The child was taken to Mercy Hospital some time Sunday after Popovich told 911 the infant was unresponsive and wasn’t breathing. On Sunday evening, the statement says that police were informed by a pediatrician that the baby was on a respirator because of swelling and bleeding to the brain. He also had contusions to the lungs.

According to the report, Downs said the injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome. Casey Clark, an assistant prosecutor, wrote Tuesday in an email to the News-Leader that ethics rules for prosecutors restrict him from discussing the child’s current condition but it was being closely monitored.

Popovich allegedly first told police that he had dropped the baby when removing a car seat from his auto; later that he had dropped the baby in his carpeted bedroom and finally that he shook the boy because he would not stop crying. Demonstrating on a doll, police say the suspect gripped it around the ribs with both hands and shook it back and forth.

He is held on $75,000 bond. A bond recommendation says Ukrainian-born man is a lawful permanent U.S. resident, but adds that he could face deportation and should be considered a flight risk.