UNNAMED BOY - 3 yo (5/14) - Charged: / Jonathon D. Wierstad - St Paul, MN

St. Paul man pleads not guilty to injuring girlfriend's 3-year-old son


By Andy Rathbun
arathbun@pioneerpress.com

Posted:   05/19/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT



Jonathon David Wierstad (Courtesy of the St. Croix County sheriff's office)



A St. Paul man has pleaded not guilty to causing a severe head injury to a 3-year-old boy he was watching in Hudson, Wis., last month.

Jonathon D. Wierstad, 24, entered the plea to a charge of child abuse -- recklessly causing great bodily harm -- in St. Croix County Circuit Court on Monday. He was charged in April and has been released on a $25,000 cash bond.

"We pled not guilty because basically what happened was an accident," said his attorney, John Kucinski, adding that Wierstad accidentally dropped the boy when playing with him.

"Doctors, they don't know the cause of the injury in this case," Kucinski said. "A lot of doctors want to assume something."
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Wierstad was living in Hudson and watching his girlfriend's son -- identified as CTM in the criminal complaint -- when Wierstad called 911 on April 8 to report that the boy was not breathing. The child was taken to Hudson Medical Center, where his condition at the time was critical but stable, according to the complaint.

Wierstad told police that the boy and his mother had recently moved in with him, and she was at work when the incident occurred, the complaint states.
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Wierstad initially told investigators that he believed the boy had tripped and fallen and choked on pizza, but a doctor at the hospital told police that while food was found in the boy's airway, there were injuries on the boy inconsistent with choking or a fall from tripping, according to the criminal complaint.

A nurse with Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota's Midwest Children's Resource Center told investigators that CTM had bleeding in the front and back of his brain that was consistent with child abuse and a high-speed impact injury, the complaint states.

While being re-interviewed by investigators, Wierstad broke down crying and said he accidentally dropped the boy. He said he had been throwing the child up in the air, but on the third time, the boy turned, causing Wierstad to drop the child, who landed on his head, the complaint states.

Investigators told Wierstad his story was not believable and the boy's injuries were inconsistent with a fall from such a height, according to the complaint.

Hudson police Det. Sgt. Geoff Willems said Monday that the boy has made some progress since the incident, but his long-term prognosis is "not good."

"He may survive, but it's not going to be a typical childhood for him," Willems said.

A pre-trial conference in the case is scheduled for June 26.

Andy Rathbun can be reached at 651-228-2121.



http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_25794036/st-paul-man-pleads-not-guilty-boys-injuries?source=rss