Howard woman to serve at least 6 1/2 years for child abuse that severely injured infant
A Howard woman whose abuse left an infant with a lifelong brain injury and significantly shortened life expectancy was sentenced Thursday to more than half a decade in state prison.
Mindy Jackson, 30, was sentenced by Centre County Judge Brian Marshall to 6 1/2-to-18 years in state prison. She was credited for about one year, nine months served at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
Centre County Assistant District Attorney Crystal Hundt described the abuse as “appalling.”
“This case involves acts of horrific violence on a 2-month-old baby,” Hundt told Marshall. “It involves repeated acts of violence; acts of violence that should never occur on a child.”
Paul Bellino, a pediatric hospitalist at Geisinger Medical Center in Montour County, testified he does not expect the child to have “any meaningful recovery.”
The child’s “irreversible” brain injury may limit her ability to understand sounds and discern things visually. She isn’t expected to live beyond 20, Bellino testified.
“She didn’t care about this child,” Hundt said. “She almost killed this child.”
Jackson pleaded guilty in April to one felony count each of aggravated assault and strangulation.
She was accused by state police at Rockview in August 2019 of striking the child in the head, kicking a car seat the infant was in, slamming her into a swing, strangling her and bouncing her “aggressively.”
Hundt played surveillance video of the abuse before Marshall handed down his sentence.
“We hear about monsters under the bed,” Hundt said. “... Ms. Jackson was the monster under the bed to this child.”
Jackson was “incredibly ill-equipped” to handle the situation, Centre County Assistant Public Defender Beth Ramos told Marshall. She described Jackson as having mental and emotional health issues.
Jackson apologized before learning her fate. The abuse was not intentional, she said.
“She wishes every day she could take it back,” Ramos said. “... She knows this is her fault and she has to live with that every day.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 1:39 PM.