Friday, August 16, 2013

"Frustrated" dad charged with assaulting 3-month-old daughter; baby has acute brain bleeding (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania)

Dad is identified as JONATHAN DEJESUS PEREZ. Yet another daddy who got "frustrated" from normal infant crying. No mention of a mother in the home.

http://bethlehem.patch.com/groups/police-and-fire/p/infant-brain-injuries-caused-by-fathers-shaking-police

Father Shook Baby Girl So Hard That Brain Hemorrhaged: Police

3-month-old girl suffers brain bleeding and eye hemorrhaging because father shook her too violently, police say.

Posted by Daryl Nerl (Editor) , August 15, 2013 at 03:19 PM

A Bethlehem man is accused of shaking his 3-month-old girl so violently that she suffered hemorrhaging to the brain and eyes, police said.

Charged is Jonathan DeJesus Perez, 22, of 529 Bradley St., who admitted to police, after multiple interviews, that he was frustrated and angry that he could not get his infant daughter to stop crying, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

The baby was brought to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill on May 4 and was subsequently transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, police said.

The baby had suffered “acute bleeding on both sides of the brain and bi-lateral retinal hemorrhage to the eyes,” the affidavit said. Dr. Maria McColgan of St. Christopher’s Hospital told police that the injuries could only have been caused by “a severe amount of force and severe shaking.”

Perez changed his story a few times before admitting to shaking the baby, according to the court documents.

Initially, he told St. Luke’s personnel that he was driving with the baby and that he had to make an evasive maneuver to avoid an accident, which caused the infant to strike her head against the side of her car seat.

Later, Perez told police that he accidentally hit the baby’s head in a doorway while holding her and walking through his house, the affidavit said.

He did not admit to shaking the baby aggressively until a third formal interview with police on July 18, the affidavit said.

Perez was charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. He was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Nancy Matos Gonzalez and committed to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $50,000 bail.