The Guimarães Court of Appeal has converted into effective prison a five-year suspended sentence handed down to the mother and stepfather of a Chavez child who suffered injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome, it was announced today.
In January, the Vila Real court sentenced the child’s mother and her partner to five years’ suspended prison terms with a ban on contact with the child during that period.
The mother, then 20, and the defendant, 30, were found guilty of co-conspiring and completing the crime of causing serious aggravated physical harm, apparently in conjunction with the crime of domestic violence under aggravating circumstances.
Following an appeal by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Guimarães Court of Appeal ordered that the suspended prison sentences imposed by the court of first instance be replaced by effective prison sentences.
In a publication on its official page, the Porto General Prosecutor’s Office explains that the Court of Appeal partially upheld the appeal filed by the deputy and, as a result, extended the decision made by the Vila Real Court of Justice, without, however, accepting the increase in punishment requested by the deputy.
The defendants were sentenced to a single five-year suspended sentence, were banned from having contact with the child for the same five-year period, were ordered to undergo any psychiatric or psychological observation deemed necessary and to pay 25,000 euros in compensation to the baby, who was four months old when he was hospitalized in the summer of 2022.
During the reading of the trial court’s decision, the judge emphasized that in this case, the expert’s testimony prevailed over other evidence, such as witness testimony, because it allowed the conclusion to be drawn that the child suffered from shaken baby syndrome.
During the trial, it was proven that the defendants repeatedly and vigorously shook the child’s body, giving it sharp, abrupt and consistent movements.
The judge also noted that the defendants, whom he described as young, inexperienced, with little education and low socio-economic status, fit the profile of the phenomenon.
The two defendants remained silent throughout the court hearings, which was emphasized by the judge, who considered that they had thus given no explanation for what had happened and it was not possible to test their capacity for self-criticism.
The child was born in April 2022, and although the accused acknowledged paternity, he is not the child’s biological father.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.