Mom breaks 3-week-old’s leg bone in half while changing diaper in Oklahoma, feds say
A mother and father in Oklahoma were sentenced to prison after officials say the 3-week-old baby’s mother broke the child’s leg while changing their diaper, then failed to get help.
In October 2022, the 25-year-old woman was changing her 3-week-old baby’s diaper. The woman used “unreasonable force” and broke the baby’s femur in half, according to a Jan. 27 news release U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.
Officials said the mother failed to seek medical attention for more than two days.
The baby’s father was at work at the time of the incident, but officials said when he became aware of the baby’s injury, he failed to get help.
When the baby was treated, doctors noted other injuries consistent with child abuse, according to prosecutors.
McClatchy News is not naming the parents to protect the identity of the child.
The father’s attorney, Ben Hilfiger, told McClatchy News the father came home from work to find the baby’s leg was broken. He said this was the father’s first child and he “didn’t know any better” and was following the mother’s lead, who told him the baby was fine and didn’t need to go to the hospital.
Hilfiger said the father’s mother came to the home two days later and saw the baby was injured and said the baby needed to be treated medically.
McClatchy News reached out to the mother’s attorney but did not immediately hear back.
The mother was sentenced to five years in prison and the father was sentenced to two years. McClatchy News is not naming the pair to protect the identity of their child.
The baby, and other children in the home, were placed in the care of family members.
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 9:51 AM with the headline "Mom breaks 3-week-old’s leg bone in half while changing diaper in Oklahoma, feds say."
