I am starting this petition to raise the penalties for child abuse for one reason and one reason only. A year in jail is not a harsh enough sentence for nearly killing a baby. After I get through the legal mumbo jumbo, I will tell you my story and explain my feelings on this issue.

According to Utah Code Section 76-5-109, child abuse is defined as the act of inflicting physical injury upon a child in a person's custody or causing/allowing another person to do so. As with any crime, there are different factors that determine the degree which a person can be charged. Below is a list of the different degrees of child abuse and their penalities.

Class C misdemeanor - Child abuse done with criminal negligence. Up to 90 days in jail and/or a fine of $750.

Class B misdemeanor - Child abuse done recklessly. Up to 6 months in jail and/or a fine of $1000.

Class A misdemeanor - Child abuse done intentionally or knowingly. Up to 364 days in jail and/or a fine of $2500.

This section of the Utah Criminal Code defines "physical injury" as an injury to or condition of a child which impairs the physical condition of the child. This includes things like bruises, malnutrition, and cuts. A "serious physical injury" is defined as something that seriously impairs a child's health, involves physical torture, causes serious emotional harm to a child, or involves a substantial risk of death to the child. This encompasses many things, such as broken bones, burns, brain bleeds, and damage to internal organs. If you're interested in the full list, I'll leave a link below.

https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title76/Chapter5/76-5-S109.html

https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title76/Chapter5/76-5-S109.2.html

I'm here today, asking for your help, because my son was a victim of aggravated child abuse at the hands of his father. My little boy entered the world on March 30th, 2021, after I'd suffered two miscarriages. He is my double rainbow baby. I took a month off from work to bond with him and make sure everything was in place for when I did return to my job. The second night I was back at work, May 2nd, 2021, my ex-husband was texting me non-stop about how the baby wouldn't take a bottle or stop crying. This went on from about 10pm until I got home from work around 6:30am the next morning. I was in a complete panic the entire time I was at work, but didn't think they'd let me go home to check on things. When I arrived home, my ex handed my son to me and said "I need to sleep, so if you could take him, that would be great."

I knew immediately that something was seriously wrong. My sweet little boy was cold, breathing weird, and crying in a very odd way. It wasn't a "hey, I'm hungry, where's my bottle" cry. He was in pain. Even at a month old, I knew my son very well. I wasn't fully understanding that something serious might have happened, so I did everything I could think of to try and help him feel better. I got him a warm bath and made him a bottle. He was still cold and threw up everything I tried to feed him. I knew it was time to go to the hospital. I initially drove to the hospital closest to me, which is about 3 minutes away by car. I wasn't about to wait for an ambulance. Initial tests done on my son showed that he was anemic. The doctor explained that this can either be caused by a blood disease or some kind of internal bleeding. They transferred me up to Primary Children's, where they were better equipped to handle such a small child.

Hours went by, more tests were done, and I vividly recall sitting in the ER with my baby all bundled up in a hospital blanket. Another doctor came in and informed me that my sweet little man had a brain injury. He would have died had I not taken him to the hospital when I did. My response was a very panicked "oh my god" and my eyes immediately darted back to my sleeping son. She then asked "is there any way he could have fallen?" I paused for what felt like an eternity, scouring my memory for any incident that may have happened. There wasn't one. "No." This is the moment where I started to realize what had happened. My intuition was yelling at me all night to just go home and check, but I didn't listen. When she left the room, I frantically messaged my ex and asked him what happened that could have caused a brain injury. He said nothing happened. He didn't know.

An CT scan and X-rays had been performed on my son to see just how bad things were. It was discovered that he had "bilateral subdurals, contusions and subarachnoid hemorrhage" and a fractured scapula. This was consistent with nonaccidental trauma and it was decided that DCFS and the police needed to be called. The moment I saw those West Jordan police officers walk in to my son's hospital room, my soul left my body. There was no way this was real. No way the man I married would do something like this. A protective order was put in place and everything about my life changed. I was in denial, even with all the facts in front of me. I could not reconcile with the fact that this man, who I called my soulmate, had done anything to hurt our baby. It took me a long time to come to grips with that.

The state charged my ex with second-degree felony child abuse in December of 2021. They alleged that he shook him in a fit of rage after dealing with his cries for a period of time. He was set to go to trial in June of 2023. I think I always knew he was guilty, I just couldn't fully accept it. I was called as a witness for the prosecution, but didn't end up testifying. The state offered him a plea deal. The charge would be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. He'd get three years probation and ten hours of community service. For nearly killing a month old baby and then handing him to me when I got home instead of taking him to the hospital. Is your blood boiling yet?

Fast forward to April of 2024. My ex was not abiding by the terms of his probation, and I'd had enough of watching him laugh in the face of the justice system for the second time. (That's another story, but I'm trying to keep this as concise as I can.) I turned him in for violating his probation. This meant that he was recharged with his felony on top of a probation violation. He was arrested and I took out a protective order. After getting bailed out, he immediately violated the protective order and was arrested again. I was in touch with the Deputy DA in his case and made it very clear that I wanted to write a victim impact statement and read it in court. I wanted my feelings to be known. My son had just barely turned 3 at the time and didn't know what happened to him. I am his voice in all of this.

At one of the first hearings, the state was supposed to show their evidence. I was told by the Deputy DA that I didn't need to be at this hearing and that he'd be sentenced at a later date. Unfortunately for me, my ex admitted to the probation violation and was sentenced that day. According to Utah Code, a second-degree felony carries between 1-15 years in prison. My ex was given 1 year in the county jail. For nearly killing my son in a fit of rage.

 My little boy is thriving now. He's super smart, very affectionate, and doing a million times better than any of the doctors thought he would. I am grateful for that. Throughout the last 4 years, the responsibility of taking my son to his extra doctor appointments and special preschool tests has fallen solely on my shoulders. I've been the one dealing with the consequences of my ex's actions. It's been a long, difficult journey, but we have pulled through. My intention was to ask the judge for at least 3 years in prison, because that was the amount of time I had been stuck in the prison that was my mind trying to deal with all of this. I never got that chance.

My case is done and dealt with. There is nothing we can do that will extend my ex-husband's sentence. My goal is to prevent future parents thrust into this nightmare from being subjected to unnecessarily light sentences. I'm here today to ask for your help in changing the laws on the books to add harsher sentences for child abuse. Children are the most innocent among us, and those who cause them harm should be slapped with much more severe penalties. A year in jail is not enough.

I am working on a letter to our local politicians that addresses this issue. I'm hoping that maybe a petition with enough signatures will help get their attention. Thank you for reading my story.