Wis. dad allegedly caused severe head trauma in newborn because he wouldn’t stop crying

BLOOMER, Wis. (TCN) -- A 23-year-old father is facing up to 60 years in prison for the alleged abuse of his 27-day-old son, who was hospitalized with severe injuries.

News 8000 reports that on April 25, hospital staff called the police when they found that a newborn baby in their care had more injuries than originally thought. 

WQOW reports the baby was brought in for a cut and bruising. The baby, whose name has not been released, suffered from multiple fractures throughout his body, cerebral and retinal hemorrhages, and brain lacerations. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the outlet, the baby showed “high specificity of inflicted abusive head trauma injury” and was airlifted to a hospital with a pediatric ICU.

The baby’s father, Dayne Paulson, allegedly admitted he had caused the injuries after initially providing unlikely explanations for them. WQOW reports Paulson allegedly told interviewers that he inflicted the injuries, including punching the baby in the eye and head-butting him, because he would not stop crying. Paulson also allegedly admitted that he would squeeze the child so hard that it hurt his own ribs; he demonstrated by squeezing a tissue box and after the demonstration, the box had been fully crushed, according to WQOW. 

Paulson was charged with repeated physical abuse of a child and is being held on a $200,000 cash bond.

According to police, medical experts said that the baby is at risk for developmental delays due to the injuries, News 8000 reports. Law & Crime reports that Paulson’s next court appearance is scheduled for May 26.

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