"Baby Jane" AMPE - 4 Weeks/Down's Syndrome - Savage (S of Minneapolis) MN

by TomTerrific0420 Sun Aug 22, 2010 12:53 pm

A 22-year-old man from Savage was charged with assault this week in what
a police officer called the “most severe case” of child abuse he
has ever seen.

Thomas Edward Ampe is accused of maliciously abusing his 4-week-old
daughter, who has Down syndrome, to the point that she suffered 56
fractured bones and had three areas of bleeding and bruising to her
brain.

“In my 33 years [as a police officer] this is the most severe case of
child abuse I have ever seen,” said Savage police Capt. Dave Muelken.
“This was an extremely serious case that required careful and
compassionate investigation by our officers.”

Ampe was charged Wednesday with first-degree assault by the Scott County
Attorney’s Office. There was a bail hearing in Scott County District
Court Thursday and bail was set at $50,000. Ampe posted bail and was
released from jail.

The infant has been released from the hospital and is no longer living
at the home, Muelken said. No other charges are expected to be filed in
the case.

According to the criminal complaint:

Police received a report that a mother and her 4-week-old daughter were
being transported to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis July 22 so the
baby could be treated for a rib fracture and bruises on her cheek and
chest in the intensive-care unit.

When the baby arrived at the hospital, a bone scan revealed a total of
56 fractures — including multiple fractures to her ribs, legs, arms and
knees. An MRI revealed three areas of the baby’s brain that had bleeding
and bruising.

During an interview with police on July 22, Ampe told detectives that
his daughter is “typically fussy and crying from the time he gets home
from work until he goes to sleep.” Ampe further stated that he sometimes
gets frustrated when he can’t take care of his daughter and will
typically hand her off to someone else.

Ampe told detectives he remembers the frustration with his daughter
first happening around July 16 and that he was “set off” by her crying
for long periods of time.