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A 23-year-old Farmland man was convicted by a Delaware County jury Thursday of violently shaking an 18-month-old child, causing abusive head trauma, or shaken baby syndrome.
Delaware Circuit Court Judge Andrew Ramirez set an Oct. 30 sentencing date for Andrew Scott for neglect of a dependent resulting in catastrophic injury, a Level 1 Felony, which is punishable by 20-40 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
According to a statement issued by Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman, Scott’s violent shaking of the child caused swelling within its head, pressing the brain into the skull.
A portion of the child’s skull was surgically removed to aid in reducing the swelling. The child also sustained fractures to multiple vertebrae in the spine. According to an arrest affidavit, the injuries sustained will likely require ongoing physical, occupational and speech therapy.
“Make no mistake about it, shaking a child can irreparably harm a child,” Hoffman said in a news release.
Some potential long-term effects of the injuries could be cerebral palsy, global developmental delay, visual impairment, a risk for developing epilepsy and other neurological disorders ranging from mild learning disabilities to persistent vegetative states.
According to the arrest documents, on March 17, 2022, the Gaston Police Department was dispatched in reference to an unconscious child.
The child was later transported by helicopter to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis for life-threatening injuries.
The hospital’s Child Protection Team doctors categorized the child’s brain and back injuries as “non-accidental/inflicted.”
When investigators spoke with Scott, he advised them that he had laid the child down at about 2:35 p.m. for a nap on March 17. He admitted to being the only one in the house around the time when the injuries would have occurred, but he stated that the child was left unattended in the house, with the door to the room where the child was closed.
According to Scott, he was only made aware of the child crying because another juvenile went into the residence. When Scott returned to the house himself, he heard the child crying. He stated that the child’s eyes were rapidly blinking and the child was “screaming bloody murder.”
Scott then took the baby outside to the child’s mother, with whom he had been in a relationship for about two months before the incident, and called 911.
Through multiple interviews, witnesses stated that the child did not like Scott and that bruises and other injuries had been noted but were unexplained and unreported.
One witness stated that Scott had been seen in the days before the incident aggressively picking up and putting down the child. Scott also admitted to disciplining the child in the past, including spanking.
The child’s mother had told investigators that she confronted Scott on more than one occasion for his aggressiveness with the child.
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