Infant SPARKS - 4 Months/ Accused: Scott Daniel Sparks - Longview WA

Baby in abuse case released from hospital, back with mother

An infant readmitted to a hospital to treat injuries from alleged abuse has been released from the hospital and is back in the care of his mother, a Children's Administration spokeswoman said.

The four-month-old Kelso boy suffered torn brain tissue, fractured bones and hemorrhaging in his eyes after he was allegedly thrown across a living room twice by his father between Dec. 1 and an. 24, police said.

The baby was taken back to St. John Medical Center March 10, then transferred to an undisclosed hospital to be treated for complications related to the injuries.

Children's Administration spokeswoman Sherry Hill said she did not know when exactly the child was released from the hospital. But she confirmed that the baby is back with his mother, Dusty Childress.

The court placed the baby in Childress's care in February despite allegations that she tried to cover for her husband.

Police said Childress interfered with their investigation by trying to dissuade her oldest son, the baby's 5-year-old brother, from telling about the alleged abuse. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to charge Childress with witness tampering.

"We will continue to monitor for the child's health and safety," Hill said. "That's really I think the best thing we can do right now."

The baby's father, Scott Daniel Sparks, 30, of Kelso is being held in the Cowlitz County Jail on suspicion of two counts of first-degree assault of a child (domestic violence.)

A Kelso man was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison Tuesday for shaking and abusing his infant son so badly that the child nearly died.

Scott Daniel Sparks, 31, pleaded guilty Nov. 23 to first-degree assault of a child. Investigators said he shook his then-3-month-old son and twice threw the child across a room.

"I would just like to apologize for my actions and for my family and my son in particular, my children, and everybody that has had to go through what they have had to go through up to this point," Sparks told the court just before he was sentenced Tuesday. "The kids suffer the most. My kids are the ones that lose."

Sparks' wife, family and friends gasped and sobbed with apparent relief as Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning sentenced Sparks to 93 months in prison, the minimum allowed by law.

"Thank God!" one of Sparks' supporters declared.

Sparks, who has no prior felony record, faced up to just more than 10 years in prison. Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said prosecutors recommended Sparks serve a lesser sentence — nine years — which he said reflects "a balance between severity of the crime, the impact it had upon the child and what I believe to be sincere representations of remorse after the fact by the defendant."

Sparks' wife, Dusty Sparks, said in a previous newspaper interview that her husband was a stay-at-home dad who appears to have become depressed and "completely overwhelmed" in caring for the baby.

Judge Warning said cases like Sparks' pose difficult questions because the abuse is "generally the result of frustration rather than malice, but the damage done is horrific."

Warning also noted that that damage is perpetrated against those who deserve it least.

The baby's then 5-year-old brother said he saw Sparks shake the baby before throwing him, according to court documents. In one instance, the baby landed on a pile of toy tractors. In another, the baby's older brother was struck by the flying infant after he was thrown by his father, the documents said.

Police said the abuse took place between Dec. 1, 2010, and Jan. 24 of this year.

On Tuesday, Sparks' attorney, James Morgan, presented letters to the court from his client's friends and family, saying they would never expect Sparks to do such a thing to his own child.

"It's almost incomprehensible that a person like Scott could engage in this conduct," Morgan said. "Scott is described in these statements almost uniformly as a kind, loving and gentle person."

The baby, who was born to Sparks and his wife at St. John Medical Center in October 2010, suffered torn brain tissue, four fractured ribs, a fractured leg bone and hemorrhaging in his eyes, police said.

Authorities described the injuries at the time as life-threatening. The baby's mother said in court Tuesday and in a previous interview that her son has made a full recovery.

However, Smith said Tuesday doctors have said "it is uncertain whether or not there are any permanent deficits" and that there is "a real possibility" there will be permanent effects on the child.

Dusty Sparks said in an interview last month that she was shocked by the abuse allegations, but she eventually accepted that her husband was responsible for her youngest son's injuries. In court Tuesday, she said her husband is a good man, and she asked the court to give the minimum sentence possible.

"This is a man who volunteered at our son's school, has been a loving husband and devoted father," Dusty Sparks said. "I don't know exactly what happened to our son. I don't think I ever will."

Kelso police also arrested Dusty Sparks in January on suspicion of tampering with a witness, alleging that she instructed her older son, who is now 6, not to tell police about the abuse against the baby.

Prosecutors said recently they would hold off on deciding whether to charge her with witness tampering until her husband's abuse case was resolved. Prosecutors did not respond to an inquiry Tuesday asking whether they intended to charge her.

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Read more: http://tdn.com/news/local/kelso-man-gets-nearly-eight-years-in-infant-abuse-case/article_7f64263e-203c-11e1-8dda-001871e3ce6c.html#ixzz1frI1raE2

Glad the father has to serve time but I worry about that baby being in the mother's care when she wanted to cover for her husband have have her son lie. She said she really didn't know what happened but she should now. Her husband plead guilty and her son saw what happened. C'mom MOM - speak up for your baby!