Massachusetts Personal Injury News
Mom, Boyfriend Arraigned on Child Abuse Charges
30-year-old Heather Dragotta of Weare, New Hampshire and 31-year-old Steve Amos of North Andover, Massachusetts were arraigned yesterday in Salem Superior Court in Massachusetts on counts of assault and battery on Dragotta’s infant daughter causing injury and also of permitting injury to a child. Both parties entered pleas of not guilty to the counts and were then released on personal recognizance.
Prosecutors in this case allege that Dragotta and her boyfriend Amos, who is not the biological father, abused Dragotta’s newborn baby girl Autumn earlier this year in May to the start of June. Autumn was about a month old at the time of the alleged abuse. Autumn was taken to Children’s Hospital in Boston and doctors stated that her injuries were linked to her being violently shaken. Doctors found injuries already in the process of healing and these injuries were fractured ribs and fractures in her legs, arms, and in one wrist. It was also discovered that Autumn had hemorrhaging in her brain. Dragotta has maintained her daughter has deficiencies with both copper and Vitamin D, which is also known as infantile rickets.
Abusive head trauma in an infant occurs when a caretaker or another individual violently shakes the infant. Newborns and infants up to age 1 are the most vulnerable to be victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS). Up to 90% of perpetrators responsible for shaking an infant are the mother’s boyfriend and sometimes even the father of the baby, and are usually in their 20s.
Infants have incredibly fragile muscles in their necks. When an infant is forcibly shaken, the baby’s neck cannot support the force used and this results in the brain making impact with the skull. This can cause the brain to swell, bleed, and bruise. Shaking an infant can cause him or her serious, permanent injury or even death.
Dragotta and Amos are due back on November 10 for a pretrial conference.
Don’t wait to contact a Massachusetts child brain injury lawyer for your free consultation.
