SATAVIAN ROSTAR - 3 Months - Petoskey (Northernmost) MI

PETOSKEY, MI -- It’s a parent’s worst nightmare -- a baby-sitter abusing your child.
That’s exactly what one man says happened to his baby boy.
Wednesday afternoon, the man accused of shaking his child faced a judge.
27 year-old Petoskey resident Cody Mork is charged with child abuse.





Prosecutors say Mork shook three month old Satavian Rostar, causing life-changing injuries.
The boy is now blind and has severe head trauma.
The child's father says Mork was babysitting one year ago when the crime took place.
He
recalls noticing Satavian acting unusual when he picked him up, so he
took him to the hospital and discovered his new son had a fractured
pelvis and head injuries.
Mork was charged with first and second degree child abuse, both felonies, and as a habitual offender.
The
Emmet County Assistant Prosecutor called several witnesses to the stand
today, trying to put together a strong enough case for it to move
forward. However, the defense attorney says he doesn't think it's
there.
Cody Mork sat quiet next to his lawyer as the judge
listened to witnesses testify about what they remember about a Saturday
last August. Mork is charged with first and second degree child abuse,
for allegedly shaking then-three month old Satavian Rostar.
"It’s a big relief, I mean I’m not totally happy yet until it's all done with," said Satavian’s father Devin Rostar.
Satavian,
now 15 months old, is blind and has severe head trauma. Rostar, along
with Petoskey Department of Public Safety Detective David Schultz,
believe Satavian was shaken.
“I think people need to hear what
happened, the judge needs to here the facts that we were able to
establish, because of the nature of the injuries to the child and
because of the young age," said Detective Schultz.
Mork's wife Kathleen took the stand, saying she thought Satavian had problems before.
“He
slept all night, which wasn't common to me, I wasn't used to that,
because usually babies get up every couple of hours to ear, his eyes,
don't focus on things," said Kathleen Mork.
Devin's aunt Ruth Charbonneau remembered what she saw when Devin dropped Satavian off after picking him up from the Mork's.
“Tell
him there's something wrong with the baby, when he came in, he picked
him up, his head was floppy, and his lips were turning a different
color, he had a bruise on his lip," said an emotional Charbonneau.
“Kissed
him, hugged him, nuzzled him, trying to get him to wake up, he would
wake up, his eyes would roll back into his head, and he'd fall asleep,"
said Devin while on the stand.
Mork's attorney says he doesn't think there's enough for this case to go to trial.
"I
think the case itself will show itself to be what it is. You know,
unfortunately, when the facts are all out, a cleaner picture will
develop as to what happened in this case," said Bryan Klawuhn.
The
judge heard witness testimony in court today, but a decision of whether
or not this case will move to trial won't be made until medical
witnesses take the stand, and there's no timetable for that.


http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?list=~\home\lists\search&id=650311#.TkNGUmF9muI

A Petoskey man accused of shaking a 3-month-old boy he was babysitting at the time appeared in Emmet County's 90th District Court for a preliminary examination Wednesday.

Cody
Lee Mork, 27, faces one count of first-degree child abuse, a felony
offense, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, one
count of second-degree child abuse, a felony offense, which carries a
maximum penalty of four years in prison, and habitual offender fourth
offense notice, court records indicate.


The victim Satavian Rostar, who is now about 15 months old,
is legally blind and cannot sit up by himself or crawl, said his father,
Devin Rostar, of Levering.

Devin Rostar said at the time the
alleged abuse occurred, which, according to a court affidavit was in
August 2010, he was working on a painting job for Goodwill in Petoskey,
for which Mork was the contractor and his boss.

Devin Rostar had
been working night shifts the week the alleged abuse occurred and Mork
and his wife, Kathleen Mork, had been watching Satavian at their home
from Tuesday of that week to Saturday. Devin Rostar testified that he
had been checking in on Satavian regularly through that week and was
never made aware of or noticed any problems.

Kathleen Mork
testified Wednesday that the baby was acting normally through that week
and Saturday morning before she left their home to go to work, and that
she never harmed him in any way or witnessed anyone else harm him.

Devin Rostar picked the baby up from their home that Saturday afternoon.

Devin
Rostar testified that when he arrived at the Morks' home to pick his
son up he was already in his car seat, apparently sleeping, and ready to
go.

He testified that Cody Mork asked him whether Satavian
"normally slept that hard," and that he took his son from the Morks'
home to the home of his aunt and uncle, who were going to babysit for
him that afternoon.

Devin Rostar testified that he dropped the
baby off at his aunt and uncle's home, left, and was later called and
asked to come back because he had forgotten to leave a bottle.

When he returned to his aunt and uncle's house, he said, it was apparent that something was wrong with Satavian.

Devin
Rostar said he tried to wake his son up, "(I) kissed him, hugged him,
nuzzled him. Tried to get him to wake up." He said Satavian was making
grunting noises, and his eyes were rolling back in his head.

"He appeared to be lifeless. Almost dead, really," he said. "I put him back in the car and rushed him to the emergency room."

Devin
Rostar's aunt and uncle testified that some time after Satavian was
dropped off at their house they realized something was wrong with him
and that he wouldn't wake up. They each testified that they did not harm
him or witness anyone else harming him.

Ultimately, it was
determined Satavian had "suffered a right pubic ramus fracture, probable
profused cerebral adema, subdural and suberacnoid hemorrhages and
extensive hypoxic ischemic injury to the brain," according to the
affidavit.

Satavian was taken from Northern Michigan
Regional Hospital to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids,
according to the affidavit. A doctor there determined Satavian had been
shaken 12-24 hours prior to his being taken to the hospital. And it was
there that police were informed "the baby's brain stem had been snapped
and its pelvis was broken," according to the affidavit.

The hearing was adjourned until Aug. 31 when two more witnesses, both medical experts, will be available to testify via video.

Cody Mork's attorney Bryan Klawuhn said it was known in advance that Wednesday's hearing would be split into two hearings.

After
the hearing Klawuhn said, "I was really happy with how the testimony
went today, I thought it was really positive in our direction. And we're
anxious to get the medical experts ... to get their input."

Cody Mork declined to comment after the hearing.

http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/courtscrime/pnr-man-accused-of-shaking-baby-appears-in-court-20110811,0,163838.story