He pleaded guilty. How long will he spend in prison for hurting his baby?
An Osceola Mills father accused of assaulting his 3-week-old daughter pleaded guilty Monday morning in Clearfield County Court.
Aaron Mills, 33, was sentenced to a total of 15 to 40 years in state prison by Judge Paul E. Cherry for various counts of aggravated assault, aggravated indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children, criminal conspiracy, possession of drug paraphernalia, and recklessly endangering another person.
The child’s mother, Stephanie McGuire, 23, has also signed a plea agreement in and is scheduled for sentencing in April.
The charges stem from an investigation into injuries sustained by the victim and noted after the child was taken to a doctor in March for a bad diaper rash. Doctors found the child had two broken legs, a cracked rib, lacerations and abrasions on her face, a tear inside her mouth between her gums and her nose, and tears in her rectum, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.
Additional testimony at the preliminary hearing revealed that McGuire and Mills were the only two people caring for the child.
After a search warrant was executed on their home and car, police found a garbage bag that contained three blankets, a pair of men’s boxer shorts, a man’s long sleeve shirt, a baby outfit and a pink baby’s hat that all had blood stains on them.
During an interview with police, Mills denied knowledge of the baby’s injuries, other than the diaper rash.
Mills told investigators that the baby had “explosive diarrhea” and was up several times each night. He allegedly admitted that he may have grabbed both feet of the girl to lift her when he was changing her. Mills said he almost lifted the baby completely off the changing mat and realized he hurt the baby.
Mills and McGuire are now facing charges in Centre County amid allegations they stole from a car in the parking lot at Geisinger Medical Center while at a prenatal doctor’s appointment.
This story was originally published February 27, 2018 at 10:06 AM with the headline "He pleaded guilty. How long will he spend in prison for hurting his baby?."