CT - Boyfriend blinds toddler by beating him

When Brown was discharged, he left with a handful of commendations, including a Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Services Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and a Combat Infantryman Badge.While Brown's heroism following an improvised explosive device (IED) convoy attack in Iraq was lauded by the Torrington community in 2007, the veteran now faces different recognition.

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LITCHFIELD — Michael Brown snorted cocaine he mixed with Xanax on the night of Feb. 16 before police say he beat his girlfriend's 16-month-old son, breaking his skull and arm and leaving him with life-threatening internal injuries...

Stephanie Cimmino, 30, later told police she and Brown snorted cocaine that he mixed with prescription Xanax in her bedroom while her two boys played in another room of her home at 136 Queens Road in Torrington earlier in the evening on Feb 16. She recalled that Brown tends to become aggressive when he uses the drugs...

30 minutes later, Brown told her he had put the boy to bed but that she may not have liked his "tactics" in the effort.

He explained that he "could have" or "did" put cocaine under the boy's lip. He also said he "may have" punched him, according to the arrest warrant...


Cimmino, who said she needed Brown's financial support and the drugs he supplied to her, related previous accounts of his acts of aggressive against her children. On one occasion he forcefully threw the child four feet across the room into a bed. On another he shoved his head into a pillow. She noted that Brown had told her he gave the boy prescription pain medications to help him sleep

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LITCHFIELD — An Iraq war veteran once lauded as a hero was described in Litchfield Superior Court Friday as a coward for breaking an 18-month-old toddler's skull and causing the child to suffer a stroke.

Michael Brown, 30, received a sentence of eight years in prison...

Brown, in T-shirt and sweatpants, said he is "very sorry" for what happened, and that he stands by his previous statement to investigators that he couldn't remember what occurred on the night of Feb. 16, 2012...

The child's long-term prognosis remains unclear because of neurological damage, Gallo said.

By accepting a plea agreement of 20 years, suspended after eight years for risk of injury to a minor, Brown avoided a jury trial and the possibility of a longer term.

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