The 3-month-old was in a coma after the incident earlier this month and is "not doing well," according to authorities.
By RICHARD DANIELSON
Published April 15, 2004
CLEARWATER - For the second time this month, an adult in North Pinellas has been charged with shaking a baby violently enough to cause brain damage.
Pinellas County sheriff's deputies say Michael Vincent, 37, shook his 3-month-old son because the baby would not stop crying.
Vincent picked up the baby and "shook him violently, resulting in the victim (having) to be taken to the hospital with (a) brain injury," according to an arrest report from sheriff's Detective Lorie Fagan.
The baby, whose name was not released, was in a coma, according to an April 8 arrest report. His condition Wednesday was not available, but sheriff's spokesman Mac McMullen said "the child is not doing well."
Vincent was charged with aggravated child abuse as a result of the incident, which took place April 7 in Clearwater, officials say.
Jail records indicate that Vincent gave authorities an address on Northfield Lane in Clearwater when he was first arrested on April 8, and an address in Naples later. He was initially released on his own recognizance but was taken into custody again after he violated the terms of his release by contacting someone in his family, McMullen said. Vincent was released from the Pinellas County Jail on Wednesday after posting $100,000 bail.
On the same day as Vincent's arrest, authorities filed a similar charge against a Palm Harbor man, according to court records.
William P. Smith, 28, was charged with aggravated child abuse after detectives said he "aggressively shook" his 4-month-old daughter, causing head injuries and brain damage. Officials said their initial investigation showed that the infant could have been injured any time from a few days after she was born in mid December until the end of March.
Dr. Sally Smith, a St. Petersburg pediatrician who is the medical director of the Child Protection Team for Pinellas County, said she's seen at least seven or eight such cases so far this year. Four or five came from Pinellas, she said. The others were from surrounding counties but involved the Pinellas Child Protection Team because the victims ended up at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
"It's a huge problem," Smith said Wednesday. In many cases, the adult tries to quiet a crying baby by shaking it. "Unfortunately, what they're doing is making the child unconscious."
Shaking a baby can cause serious brain trauma to the child that leads to blindness, paralysis, seizures, brain damage and death, authorities say. Most deaths occur in children younger than 2.
When a baby is shaken, the infant's head, which is heavy and not supported by strong neck muscles, whips back and forth and rotates, a combination of forces that damages nerve cells, nerve fibers and blood vessels that nourish the brain.
It is the shearing of the nerve cells, with their long fiberlike connections, that is the biggest reason for the brain damage, Smith said.
Even in cases where the damage is not as severe, there can be long-term effects, she said. Children injured by shaking "don't tend to do well in school" and seem to be more prone than others to attention-deficit disorder and to have behavior problems, she said.
Parents and caregivers should always remember that whatever is making a baby cry is not as serious as the damage they can do by shaking a baby, experts say. When adults are about to lose their temper with a baby, it's much better to put down the crying infant and to leave the room.
In Pinellas, parents can call Help a Child Inc., which is affiliated with the Child Protection Team, at (727) 544-3900, for advice on coping with a crying baby.
"You're much better off going outside, putting the baby in the crib, taking a break," Smith said. "Other than from shaking, no child ever died from crying."
