From Bill Lindelof:
A teen has been convicted by a Yolo County jury of four counts of child abuse and inflicting great bodily injury upon an infant.
Richard Andrew Schirnhofer, 19, of Woodland, was convicted Tuesday in Superior Court on the charges involving his girlfriend's baby. The little girl suffered broken ribs during one of the abuse incidents.
On Oct. 20, 2008, the child, then 7 months old, was taken into custody by Yolo County Child Protective Services. While in custody, a social worker noted bruises on the baby.
Experts at the UC Davis Medical Center determined the bruising probably was caused by the child being slammed on a hard surface. UCD personnel also determined the infant had suffered broken bones.
On June 17, 2009, the baby's mother, Jessica Carpenter, was sentenced to six years and eight months in state prison, admitting she failed to protect her daughter from Schirnhofer, a news release from Yolo District Attorney Jeff Reisig's office states.
The release said that although Schirnhofer was convicted of child abuse and breaking the infant's ribs, he was found not guilty of torturing the baby or of personally inflicting great bodily injury to other parts of the infant's body.
Schirnhofer faces a sentence of 16 years in state prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 26.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.