How many other babies has Benjamin Curtis killed?
A father, Benjamin Curtis, who aggressively shook his infant daughter, resulting in significant brain damage that contributed to her death, has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Ocean Elliot was barely three and a half months old when Benjamin Curtis “lost control,” resulting in substantial injuries that rendered his daughter functionally blind and afflicted with chronic convulsions.
She passed away just over two years later after contracting swine flu, which was exacerbated by complications from the injuries done by Benjamin Curtis.
Ocean was compelled to endure extended hospital stays, and although the assault occurred two years prior, a judge revealed that the injuries she had were “a significant contributory factor” in the cause of her death.
Benjamin Curtis, 30, of Mallard Close, Eastbourne, was scheduled to stand trial for manslaughter but altered his plea to guilty at Guildford Crown Court today.
The court was informed that Ocean had been entrusted to his care at a location in Sheerwater, Woking on the evening of 2 April 2007.
Benjamin Curtis contacted a neighbour that evening, asserting that his daughter had begun to tremble and shiver while he was changing her nappy. He summoned an ambulance and then informed the physicians that Ocean had struck her head against the side of her cot.
Subsequent medical evaluations determined that her injuries were attributable to head trauma resulting from shaking. Benjamin Curtis was apprehended and first refuted inflicting any injury upon Ocean. He then confessed to detectives that he “momentarily lost control” and shook her four or five times back and forth.
In April 2008, he was incarcerated for 20 months after pleading guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.
Following a decline in her health, Ocean passed away on 18 August 2009 at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, at the age of two years and eight months.
Benjamin Curtis was apprehended on allegations of manslaughter in November 2009 and, after medical evaluations and counsel, was indicted in September 2012.
After today’s hearing, Detective Chief Inspector Juliet Parker stated: “Benjamin Curtis’s actions that night resulted in severe injuries to a young infant from which she never recovered.”Ocean was a healthy and energetic infant; but, the repercussions of the violent shaking inflicted by Curtis resulted in her enduring significant health issues for the remainder of her young life.
This case has been challenging, intricate, and heartbreaking, requiring some time to reach today’s hearing. I hope the verdict will provide justice for Ocean and closure for her family.
The judge informed Benjamin Curtis: ‘As with most infants, she wept.’ You lifted her and shook her four or five times. You might have been fatigued. You may have been unsure how to appease Ocean.
You may have been displeased with your partner.
However, none of that justifies your loss of composure and maltreatment of the infant. The outcomes were disastrous.
He stated, “Consequences are significant, and when they escalate in severity, they can result, as in your situation, in more serious charges.”
The court stated that had Curtis challenged the current charge, he would have imposed a three-year sentence; however, due to Benjamin Curtis’s guilty plea, the sentence would be reduced to two years.
Ms. Glynn informed the court that Ocean’s mother commenced her relationship with Benjamin Curtis in 2005, characterised by discord, with both adults experiencing violence from one another. The mother entered into an arrangement with social services stipulating that she would not leave her daughter alone with Benjamin Curtis. However, she failed to adhere to this, including on the night of the assault. She departed from the residence in Woking, Surrey, to attend bingo with a companion.
Ocean’s mother enquired, “Where is the justice?” Two years is insufficient; will he serve only one of those years? I would have chosen a duration of five years.
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