A 19-year-old Oak Bluffs man was arraigned Monday morning on a charge of assault and battery on a child with substantial injury after his infant daughter allegedly sustained a severe brain injury.
According to Cape and Islands assistant district attorney Laura Marshard, Shaun Sicsico’s 12-week-old daughter was brought to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital Saturday evening with a severe brain injury. The child was later airlifted to Boston Children’s Hospital.
Doctors said the injuries were consistent with abuse, including bruising on all four limbs, Ms. Marshard said in court. A doctor said the child was in a medically-induced coma with a fatal brain injury, according to Ms. Marshard, and the injuries were consistent with landing on something soft like a bed or couch.
Ms. Marshard said Mr. Sicsico was interviewed by state police and Oak Bluffs police Det. Nicholas Curelli, and he allegedly told police that he had spun the child and may have spun her too hard. After that, two people came to the home and noticed the child appeared to be having a seizure, Ms. Marshard said. The visitors insisted that the child be brought to the hospital, she reported.
A statement of facts by Detective Curelli said attending physicians and Dr. Alice Newton, the medical director of child protection at the hospital, believe the injuries are consistent with abuse, he wrote, and the injuries most likely occurred sometime Saturday.
The parents of the child brought her to the hospital, he said, and Mr. Sicsico was arrested after being interviewed. The Department of Children and Families has emergency legal custody of the victim, he said.
“Further charges may follow upon worsening of victim’s condition,” Detective Curelli wrote.
Ms. Marshard said the mother of the child, Mr. Sicsico’s girlfriend, was in Boston with the child. Ms. Marshard requested bail of $75,000.
Two women cried in court as the facts of the case were discussed.
Attorney Ryan Searle, representing Mr. Sicsico during the arraignment, requested bail of $1,500, and said Mr. Sicsico indicated that he had never harmed, shaken or hurt the child.
Ms. Searle said Mr. Sicsico said the child had been acting strangely on the day she was brought to the hospital, and that the baby seemed to be having a seizure.
Ms. Searle said Mr. Sicsico is unemployed and has lived on the Vineyard for the last two years.
Bail was set at $50,000 by district court Judge Thomas Barrett, and Mr. Sicsico was ordered not to have contact with the child. Mr. Sicsico was back in court on Thursday morning with his attorney, Robert Manning. Bail remained the same and Ms. Marshard said the case has not changed. Police said Thursday that the case is still under investigation. A further court date was scheduled for August 9.
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