GUILTY ID - James Blanchard for child abuse, Coeur d'Alene, 2011

KHQ.COM - A 20 day old baby is at Sacred Heart Medical Center recovering from bleeding to the brain.

Early on Monday Coeur d' Alene Police arrested the baby's father, 19-year-old James Blanchard, for felony injury to a child. In court on Monday it was said that multiple witnesses could testify that Blanchard shook the baby forcefully.

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James D. Blanchard appeared in a Kootenai County courtroom via video link before Judge Clark Peterson, who set Blanchard's bail at $100,000. Kootenai County Deputy Prosecutor David Robins sought bail of $250,000.

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He said Blanchard allegedly did not call 911 when the boy was injured, but instead called the boy's mother, who was not home. She dialed 911 when she arrived at home.

"That is disturbing (alleged) conduct by this gentleman," Robins said.

The prosecutor also said more than one witness would be able to describe Blanchard allegedly either shaking the baby, forcing him to eat, screaming at the child, tossing him across a room, and even slamming the boy down into a crib.

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Coeur d'Alene police said today that Noah remains in “very critical condition.”

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BeanE said:

He did all that to the baby, and none of the witnesses stopped him? Nobody did anything until the mother got home and she called 911?

Dear God.

Poor, poor precious baby.

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Liz said:

That's what is bothering me, too! For crying outloud, *why* in the world didn't someone speak out!? This tragedy very well could have been prevented, IF they had!

Just read this part of the Spokesman Review article, "If the baby is released, he’ll go into custody of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare."

Thank goodness for that!

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BeanE said:

God. Just reading through the articles. To make it even better all this had been going on for some time.

And he didn't want the mother to call 911 when got home, even though the baby was having trouble breathing. She wouldn't call 911 until the other person there screamed at her.

20 days old. Not even 3 weeks, and that's the life he's had. God protect little Noah.

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Blanchard told police he, Ray and the baby were at a park in Post Falls with Ray’s family on Sunday and came home around 8 p.m. He said Noah was sleeping in his car seat in the living room when Ray left with Jenkins to get some take-out food from a Chinese restaurant.

Blanchard said he took Noah out of the car seat and laid him on the couch then went into the kitchen to make him a bottle. When he returned about a minute later, Noah was having trouble breathing, Blanchard told police. Blanchard said he called Ray, who returned home and called 911.

However, Jenkins told police that when he and Ray returned to the apartment, he told Ray to call 911 but Blanchard didn’t want her to. Jenkins said he had to yell at Ray to get her to call 911.

Ostafin and Jenkins told police they repeatedly have seen Blanchard handle Noah too roughly, including shaking him, kicking his car seat with him in it on the floor and dropping Noah forcefully into his bassinet from a height of six inches. He would also yell obscenities at Noah to make him stop crying, they said.

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Lovejac said:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/jul/25/cda-police-baby-critical-condition-father-arrested/

snipped

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Ostafin and Jenkins told police they repeatedly have seen Blanchard handle Noah too roughly, including shaking him, kicking his car seat with him in it on the floor and dropping Noah forcefully into his bassinet from a height of six inches. He would also yell obscenities at Noah to make him stop crying, they said.

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However, the Kootenai County prosecutor’s office paints a different picture. In requesting Blanchard’s bond be set at $250,000, Deputy Prosecutor David Robins said he has “multiple witnesses” who will say Blanchard shook the baby forcefully, “would haphazardly toss the baby across the room,” and had slammed Noah down in his crib.

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Wood said doctors reported that medical problems from the injuries will likely be long-term.

"He will be hospitalized for quite some time," Wood said.

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Liz said:

KXLY News at 11pm last night reported that baby Noah had been taken off the ventilator and was breathing on his own. Also that Noah had been upgraded to "serious" condition, from "critical". Here's the latest online about Noah.

Cd'A infant still in serious condition
Posted: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 12:00 am



More:
http://www.cdapress.com/news/local_news/article_6b076705-4434-5152-bc71-ede2549f292d.html

So glad to hear that Noah is improving!

Hopefully lots of us will keep praying for Noah's recovery. No child should ever have to go throught what Noah went through in his first couple weeks of his life. He deserves so much better. We're pulling for you, Noah!

ETA: Found the story linked on KXLY:
Seriously Injured Baby Breathing On His Own
http://www.kxly.com/news/28733218/detail.html

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An Idaho father who caused brain damage in his newborn son that blinded the boy was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison on Friday.

But James D. Blanchard could be freed much earlier after he admitted in a plea arrangement that he "placed his son in a situation that his health and well-being was endangered," KHQ.com reports.

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