A Heerlen father (25) should serve two years in prison for the molestation of his young baby, according to prosecutors. He denies, his lawyer pleads acquittal.
To begin with, the girl is doing great 2.5 years later. But when she, only 14 weeks old, was admitted to the hospital in Maastricht on Feb. 23, 2017, she had serious physical injuries. During the trial Tuesday at the Maastricht court, internist Professor Henk Bilo explained: the baby was diagnosed with fluid accumulations and blood in the brain, two bruised ribs and bleeding in both retinas. These are the result of an accident or inflicted by someone. But according to Bilo, the exact time of the injury cannot be accurately determined.
A serious accident must have been witnessed by someone. The prosecution therefore assumes inflicted injury. And because father S. was alone with his daughter before she was taken away by ambulance, only he qualifies, the prosecution says. The official suspicion: attempted manslaughter due to shaken baby syndrome.
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"Did he hit her or shake her, that is not clear. What is clear is that he did something to a defenseless child," said the prosecutor, who also charges S. with first filming his daughter fighting for her life and only then calling 911. She demanded 36 months in prison, 12 of which were suspended.
For the film, S. had a reason: "My daughter had a seizure on Feb. 23. In January she also had such an attack. But when I went to the family doctor with that, he declared me crazy. He said she was completely healthy. For me as a father it was clear that something was very wrong with her. With the video, I had something to show." Expert Bilo judges that the condition on the video was serious.
Unconscious
According to S., the attack on Feb. 23 was the fourth time the girl completely stiffened and then hung limp and unconscious. One of those attacks also happened to mother H., who was very shocked by it. But the prosecutor ignored that statement and said there were no attacks at all.
S. denies having done anything to the child. The court finds it strange that, as a responsible father, he did not go to find out who did abuse his daughter. S: "I trust everybody, I can't go and play policeman."
Proof
S.' counsel believes legal and convincing evidence is lacking. "According to Bilo, the injuries could have been inflicted at more times, but the prosecution takes a different position and sits in the place of the expert. Something must have happened in the days before Feb. 23. More people were involved during that period."
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