"I am not aware of having hurt him": the father of the abused baby exonerates the mother and suggests negligence

BarcelonaThe man investigated for severe abuse of his few-weeks-old baby has excused himself in court by saying that he did not hurt him voluntarily, and has opened the door to having hurt him without realizing it. "I am not aware of having hurt him," he said in a two-hour statement in court, which is investigating both him and the baby's mother for sexual assault, abuse, serious injuries, and attempted homicide, because the injuries reached the point of posing a life-threatening risk. At the same time, the man has exonerated the woman –whom he has not divorced, but whom he referred to as his ex-partner– and has ruled out that she intentionally hurt the child. Both were arrested on March 18 and since then the man has been in provisional prison, while the woman was released on provisional liberty in May. The man's defense will request his release again in the coming days.

According to sources present at the statement, the man could not explain how most of the child's injuries occurred, which included fractures to the ribs and femur, as well as anal fissures and brain damage. He only admitted the possibility of having shaken him one day, not very hard, or having hurt his ribs by wrapping him too tightly in a blanket, all without any intention of hurting him, as he said.

One of the situations he detailed is the night the baby broke a bone in his leg. As he explained, he was already in bed when the woman left the baby in the crib and went to sleep in the bed with him. Two minutes later the baby started crying and the woman went to the kitchen to prepare a bottle while he carried the baby to the living room and held him in his arms. The defendant explained that at that moment he saw how a leg "popped out," without being able to clarify at what moment the fracture occurred. He then notified the woman, who worked as a trauma nurse at Vall d'Hebron. He explained that she became very nervous and started walking around the house asking herself out loud what they should do. Finally, they went to Sant Pau, which activated the child abuse protocol and referred them to Vall d'Hebron.

Validation of the woman

During the statement, the man appeared insecure about parenting, saying that he would ask the woman to tell him if he was doing it right when he picked up the child or changed his diaper. Unlike what he said, when the woman testified, she said that, by elimination, if it hadn't been her, it must have been him. This Thursday, the prosecutor put this same point to him during the interrogation, but he insisted that the woman could not have harmed the child on purpose.

For her part, the defense insists on describing him as a "very simple man who hides nothing" and who has answered questions from all parties for two hours. In addition to the suspect, the final witnesses in the case also testified this Thursday. The first was a doctor from Sant Joan de Déu who treated the child days before his hospitalization in the ICU and did not see any serious injuries or any signs of mistreatment. The judge also heard from two of the woman's relatives—her cousin and a brother-in-law—who explained that the defendant used to share inquiries and photos about the child's health status, since, in addition to her, a large part of the family are healthcare workers.