Court finds Shelburne County man guilty of assaulting 3-week-old son
A Shelburne County, N.S., father has been found guilty of assaulting his three-week-old son.
According to court documents released Tuesday, on Nov. 28, 2011, a 24-day-old boy who was airlifted to the IWK in Halifax was experiencing seizures, decreased responsiveness and had bruising on his head.
An investigation by police led to the father being charged with aggravated assault, failure to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence for failing to seek medical help for his son. The man, whose age was not released, was found guilty on all charges.
Five-day trial
In a five-day trial held in Shelburne in late May, a provincial Supreme Court judge found that despite the Crown's case being entirely circumstantial, he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt the father was guilty.
Defence claimed the baby's injuries were accidental — the result of the father dropping and falling on the baby.
But in his ruling, Justice James L. Chipman declared he believed the father "snapped" the day the baby was injured, because of stress from family and work.
Excessive force
"He acted out of emotional upset and inflicted excessive force on his innocent, completely defenceless infant son," read the ruling.
During the trial, the child's mother testified she believed the father was not handling the stress of the new baby well and did not get along well with her father.
At the time of the incident, the father and mother of the baby lived in an apartment connected to the mother's parents' mobile home.
The child, who will turn five in November, has been left with permanent physical and mental disabilities. His mother told the court he cannot walk and is being fitted for a wheelchair.
