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Stimer sentenced to state prison for child abuse
Friday, June 29, 2012
BELLEFONTE - Judge Bradley Lunsford of the Centre County Court of the Common Pleas sentenced Brandon Lee Stimer to five to 10 years in a state correctional institution on the charges of endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person after being found guilty following a jury trial in May.
In August 2009, Stimer's infant son was taken to Jannet Weiss Children's Hospital after it was discovered by the infant's primary physician the infant had sustained a fracture to the distal femur. Following a full evaluation at the hospital, the infant was found to have sustained six fractures involving three of the four extremities.
At the trial, Dr. Bellino, an expert in the field of child abuse and pediatrics, testified the injuries were not the result of activities of daily living, but were the result of a tremendous amount of force, which involved a significant amount of twisting and pulling on each of the affected extremities that was clearly the result of child abuse.
The district attorney's office outlined the deliberate application of force that was required to sustain such injuries. In all, six fractures to all of the baby's limbs required that Stimer deliberately twisted and pulled on his son's limbs when he was a mere four weeks old.
Trial testimony revealed Stimer was heard on the baby monitor asking the child why he "made him do such things" the night he hurt the child.
District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller stated, "The only reason Stimer did not get more jail time was because he was given the statutory maximum allowable from the judge. If there was any possible way to ask for more, we would have and I dare say, I believe the judge would have given it. This is simply a monstrous case."
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