A father from PEI has been sentenced to one year behind bars for breaking his daughter’s bones.
The 21 year-old resident of Prince County was given a 12 month prison term followed by two years of probation after pleading guilty to negligence causing bodily harm to his 3 month old daughter.
The incident occurred last June while the man was attempting to change his daughter’s diapers. He broke both the girl’s arms, one leg and her collarbone. After it happened the man failed to tell anyone about the girl’s injuries or get his daughter medical attention.
The baby’s grandmother noticed the injuries and took her to the hospital five days later despite the man’s denial of any incident. Provincial court Judge Jeff Lantz said the father’s initial denial cast unfair suspicion on the baby’s mother and grandmother who had nothing to do with the injuries.
Trying to explain his actions to police, the father claimed he didn’t think the child was injured because she was not crying. Since the girl was not expressing any pain the father said he didn’t think to take his child for medical attention.
Judge Lantz said three aggravating factors impacted the sentence decision:
- The severity of the baby’s injuries
- The father’s initial denial of the incident
- The father’s decision not to tell anybody resulting in a five day delay before the child’s injuries were cared for
The sentence could have included a longer jail term up to 14 years. However, the father’s employer, family and friends offered evidence that he would make a strong candidate for rehabilitation.
(Photo source: CBC.ca)
