Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Dad charged with abusing 3 1/2-month-old daughter (Rice Lake, Wisconsin)

Sounds like dad PAUL J. BIVER is very controlling and abusive towards the mother as well.

Notice that all it took was one afternoon of "babysitting" for this baby to get this injured. These guys are set off very easily.

http://www.ricelakeonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=32&SubSectionID=113&ArticleID=27496

4/23/2014 12:03:00 PM

Father charged with abuse of infant

Eileen Nimm
Chronotype staff

A Rice Lake man is accused of causing abusive head trauma to his 3 1/2-month old daughter and, if found guilty, could face up to 25 years in prison.

Paul J. Biver, 21, of 330 E. South St., No. 2, appeared in Barron County Circuit Court last Wednesday for an initial hearing on a felony charge of child abuse, intentionally causing great harm.

Judge Maureen Boyle set bail at a $25,000 signature bond with a condition that Biver not have contact with his infant daughter. He must not have unsupervised contact with any other minors under age 18 nor leave the state without permission. A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, May 7.

According to the criminal complaint, doctors diagnosed the baby with blood on her brain, multiple retinal hemorrhages, facial and head bruising and a broken collar bone.

On the afternoon of April 11, a Rice Lake police officer responded to the Lakeview Medical Center emergency room on a report of a baby with suspicious head injuries. The baby was airlifted to Regions Hospital in St. Paul, Minn. The baby was then transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, also in St. Paul.

The officer talked with the baby's parents, Biver and Lindsey Mickelson. Biver said he was watching the baby that afternoon while Mickelson went to the store. He said she was sitting on the couch in a Boppy pillow with her feet toward the front edge of the couch. Biver said he went to the bathroom, heard her crying and found her lying on the floor. He said she had fallen off the couch before.

The complaint states that the officer noted that while he was talking with Biver, who appeared very calm, Mickelson was very upset. "She didn't speak much, and she kept looking at Paul as if looking for permission to talk," the officer noted. He referred the case to a Rice Lake police investigator.

From medical reports and a phone call with Dr. Carolyn Levitt of Midwest Children's Resource Center, the child abuse center of Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, the investigator learned that a subdural hematoma was very unlikely to occur in a 3-month old infant from a "simple fall off the couch." Reports also stated that a CT scan had shown evidence of old healed fractures, stated the complaint.

Levitt also wrote that the collarbone fracture was unlikely to happen because of the baby's low body mass at that age and because they generally have their arms wrapped and held close to the body. "In addition, it is very worrisome that the infant has a history of prior bruising as pointed out by her mother," wrote Levitt.

A report by opthamologist Mark Eikenberry indicated that the baby's right eye revealed multiple retinal hemorrhages, between 75-100 total. Eikenberry indicated that the findings were consistent with Shaken Baby Syndrome or abusive head trauma.