Brittany White: Florida mom charged with child abuse after 'roughly shaking' infant to stop him crying
SPRINGFIELD, FLORIDA: A 24-year-old mother was arrested for child abuse after the Springfield Police Department received a referral from a child advocate who noticed a lack of pupil tracking and object tracking in the infant. The officers of the Springfield Police Department contacted Brittany White and the representative from Gulf Coast Children's Advocacy Center and it was decided to transport the baby to Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center for evaluation. Further diagnosis of the baby is awaited which may lead to the mother facing additional charges.
According to an affidavit obtained by Law & Crime, Adriana Sosa, Care Coordinator of the Healthy Start Program by GCCAC, met Brittany White on October 12 when she noticed the signs of abuse, which was later confirmed in a follow-up visit. Adriana and a co-worker visited Brittany's residence on October 14 when, during the conversation, she began to cry. Brittany told them about 'shaking' her infant two weeks before because he wouldn't stop crying.
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Brittany White has been charged with one count of intentional child abuse. Springfield Police Department gave out details in a press release, which read, "Officers made contact with Ms White and representatives from the GCCAC’s Healthy Start Program at Ms White’s residence. [A]nd the decision was made to transport the baby to Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center for evaluation."
After the visit on October 14, Brittany also gave a videotaped confession about the incident. The affidavit read, "She became frustrated with C.L. after he wouldn’t stop crying, so she grabbed hold of his torso with both hands and shook him for a couple seconds," as written by the arresting SPD Officer Jason Smith.
It further read, "She described the shaking as “roughly” and stated that after it happened, she hugged the child and apologized to him before laying him in bed and leaving the room. The Defendant is aware that what she did is wrong and that “shaking” an infant can cause long lasting injury and harm to the child."
The baby, who was two and a half months old at the time of the alleged abuse, was discovered to have suffered some bone fractures. According to WMBB, SPD Assistant Police Chief Russell Voyles said, "The doctors discovered some preexisting bone fractures on one of the legs that were in the healing process. We don’t know how far into the healing process they were so we do know that there are going to be some other injuries there that we have to address."
In the investigator's opinion, this is one of the worst cases they have seen and the alleged shaking could have caused the baby to have suffered detached retinas. Officer Voyles added, "We’re waiting for the medical staff to make a better diagnosis on the child so that we can go forward with potentially some additional charges."
Officer Voyles added in his message directed to the public, "No matter how frustrated you are with a child, it is not ok to shake them. It can cause lifelong consequences that are completely life-altering. If you’re frustrated and you put the baby down and walk away. You need to take a breath. Shaking the baby is never an okay option."
