Published: August 13, 2006 02:14 am      

EDITORIAL: Child abuse law rightly gets tougher

Each year, thousands of crying babies are shaken by frustrated parents or other caregivers.

According to a research project published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2003, approximately 1,300 U.S. children experience fatal or severe head trauma from child abuse every year. Thousands of additional children likely suffer irreparable damage from vigorous shaking known as “shaken baby syndrome” but their cases either go unreported or are falsely presented as injuries caused by a fall or similar accident.

In New York state, some caregivers accused of violently shaking a child escape severe penalties because of an unintended loophole in the law. If the abuser’s actions were reckless rather than intentional, he likely would be charged with a misdemeanor rather than a felony because the prosecutor would have to prove the abuser acted with depraved indifference.

The state wisely has adopted a new law to close that loophole.

Gov. George Pataki signed a law last week that creates the felony charge of reckless assault of a child to appropriately punish people who recklessly cause injury to a child’s brain by shaking the child. The law, dubbed Cynthia’s Law, is named for Cynthia Gibbs, who died at the hands of her baby sitter from a skull fracture in 2000, when Cynthia was 8 months old.

Conviction under the new law, which will take effect Nov. 1, could result in a prison term of between two and seven years.

The state also plans to start a media and education campaign regarding shaken baby syndrome.

It’s never acceptable to shake a baby. Parents and other caregivers must understand allowing a baby to cry is OK if all their needs have been met, according to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome. The care provider should seek professional help to manage his stress, and baby sitters should know they may call the parents if a baby becomes difficult to handle.

People may be less inclined to shake a child if they understand the dangers.

When shaken, a baby’s head, supported by a weak neck, flops back and forth. The brain rotates within the skull, causing blood vessels to tear. This can result in severe brain injury.

According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, the immediate consequences of shaking a baby may include breathing difficulties, extreme irritability, seizures, limp arms and legs, decreased consciousness, vomiting, inability to swallow, heart problems or death.

Long-term consequences may include learning disabilities, physical disabilities, blindness, hearing impairment, speech problems, cerebral palsy and behavior disorders.

Some of the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome are lethargy, decreased appetite, grab-type bruises on arms, no smiling or vocalization, breathing difficulties, bulging of the head and inability of the eyes to track movement.

— The Leader-Herald, Gloversville