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When the state blames parents for a baby’s serious injuries

On Behalf of | Oct 23, 2024 | Criminal Defense

Parents have a social and legal duty of care toward their children. That means they need to provide for their children’s basic needs. They also have to avoid scenarios in which they may directly cause harm to their children. Occasionally, the state assumes that a parent may be to blame for a child’s injuries and could prosecute them for causing a child harm. Particularly in scenarios where an infant has alarming medical issues, there is often a presumption that parents are to blame.

For example, if a young child presents signs of a brain injury, healthcare professionals might assume that the parent caused those injuries by shaking the baby. Parents and caregivers may find themselves facing criminal charges because of a baby’s injuries and may need help defending themselves to avoid life-altering consequences.

There could be an alternate explanation

Shaken baby syndrome is usually the result of a tragic situation. A caregiver becomes so fatigued or stressed by a child’s crying that they shake the baby out of exasperation. That momentary lapse in judgment can cause irrevocable harm to the child.

Shaken baby syndrome often produces life-altering brain injuries that can put a child on life support, render them incapable of living independently and completely change the course of their future. However, a caregiver or parent shaking the baby is not the only scenario that might lead to a brain injury.

Another child may have been the one to physically injure the infant. In some cases, the child may have rolled off of a piece of furniture, causing a traumatic injury. They may have suffered violent motions in a recent car crash that didn’t leave them with any physical wounds. They could have residual damage from an illness that caused swelling of the brain.

A thorough review of medical evidence is often a good starting point for those accused of causing an injury to their child. With the right assistance early in the legal process, parents can sometimes avoid scenarios in which their family faces severe hardship because of not just the injuries to the child but also the criminal consequences imposed on the parents.

Violent criminal charges related to an infant’s injuries can result in major consequences for the people accused. It can be difficult to handle such charges while also caring for an infant who has sustained major injuries. Mounting a rigorous defense requires an understanding of the law and of the evidence the state may use to develop a case. Seeking legal guidance as proactively as possible, therefore, is generally wise.