A child’s life will never be the same, and the man responsible has pleaded guilty.
On Tuesday, February 23, Jason Godfrey, 28, of Staten Island, pleaded guilty to violently shaking his girlfriend’s then 11-month-old son while he babysat, leaving the child severely brain damaged.
Godfrey, who had been held in jail in lieu of $600,000 bail since his arrest in January 2009, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault before Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Buchter, who indicated that he would sentence the defendant to 10 years in prison on March 31.
The Courier was unable to reach an attorney for Godfrey as of press time.
“The defendant has admitted that he shook his young victim like a rag doll, causing permanent brain damage and robbing the child of a productive and fruitful existence,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown.
Godfrey admitted in court that he was babysitting his girlfriend’s son, Jace Cardona, at her Ozone Park residence on January 29, 2009, when he violently and repeatedly shook the infant. Godfrey said that the child became unresponsive immediately afterward. The child was taken later that day to the emergency room at Long Island Jewish Hospital in an unresponsive state.
According to the DA, an examination determined that the child’s injuries – which included bleeding on the brain and in the eyes, massive brain swelling and oxygen deprivation to the brain – were consistent with shaken baby syndrome/abusive head trauma.
“Shaken Baby Syndrome (Abusive Head Trauma) is the leading cause of child abuse deaths each year,” said Brown. “Its victims are innocent and helpless children, often injured by those charged with protecting them. These tiny victims are often impaired for life or killed. Caregivers of children should heed the important message that these cases unfortunately bring to our attention – never, under any circumstances, shake a baby.”
