A mother and father in Oklahoma were sentenced to prison after officials said the 3-week-old baby’s mother broke the child’s leg while changing their diaper and then failed to get help.
In October 2022, the 25-year-old woman was changing her 3-week-old baby’s diaper. According to a Jan. 27 news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma, the mother used “unreasonable force” to break the baby’s femur in half.
Officials stated the mother did not seek medical assistance for more than two days.
The baby’s father was at work at the time of the event, but officials said he did not seek medical attention when he became aware of his child’s injury.
When the baby was treated, physicians discovered more injuries consistent with child abuse, according to authorities.
To protect the child’s identity, McClatchy News will not name the parents.
Ben Hilfiger, the father’s attorney, told McClatchy News that the father discovered the baby’s fractured leg when he returned home from work. He stated that this was the father’s first kid and that he “didn’t know any better” and was following the mother’s lead, who informed him that the baby was OK and did not require hospitalization.
Hilfiger stated that the father’s mother arrived at the home two days later, discovered the infant was damaged, and informed him that the baby needed medical attention.
The court sentenced the mother to five years in prison and the father to two years. McClatchy News is not naming the parents to protect their child’s identity.
The newborn and other youngsters in the home were cared for by family members.