Police say he shook his 3-month-old son because the child was crying, causing injuries to the baby’s brain. Bodnar denies the charges.
Lets keep DADDY'S as mommy's -- after all they are "loving and caring'. Its always 'just' and accident. They never 'mean to do it'- common theme of all abuse and murders by 'daddy's'- its not their fault.
The mother of the baby at the center of an ongoing child abuse
trial in Bucks County Court testified Wednesday that Milo Bodnar is
a “very involved, caring and loving father.”
Bodnar, 46, is standing trial in Doylestown this week on charges
of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child,
recklessly endangering another person and simple assault. If
convicted, he could be sentenced to more than 10 years in
prison.
Police say he shook his 3-month-old son because the child was
crying, causing injuries to the baby’s brain. Bodnar denies the
charges.Maureen Kushmore, the baby’s mother, testified that she left the
boy alone with Bodnar on the morning of May 13, 2010, to go
shopping for supplies for a planned family vacation. She said she
called home to check on the baby around lunch time, and was told by
a panicked Bodnar that the baby was ill.Bodnar called 911, and the baby was rushed by ambulance to St.
Mary Medical Center in Middletown, and then to The Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia, where doctors found that he was bleeding
around his brain and behind his eyes.Prosecutor Dave Zellis called Kushmore to the stand to show that
the infant was fine before he was left alone with Bodnar. She
testified that the little boy did not appear to be sick or
injured.Under cross-examination by Bodnar’s attorney, Matthew Wilkov,
Kushmore said Bodnar was a good father, and that she’d never seen
him shake their son or treat him roughly.“Had I had any concerns, I would not have left him,” Kushmore
said.Kushmore of Lower Makefield said that although Bodnar was being
treated by a doctor for a sleeping disorder and anxiety at the time
of the incident, she had never seen him act violently toward her or
the baby.Also taking the stand Wednesday was Maria Etzrodt-Gibbons, the
solicitor for the Montgomery County Children and Youth social
service agency, and a longtime friend of both Kushmore and Bodnar.
She also said that she’d never seen Bodnar treat the child
roughly.Etzrodt-Gibbons was not involved in the investigation, and she
is not related to Bucks County Judge Diane Gibbons, who is
overseeing the trial.Zellis will call one more expert witness today, then Wilkov is
expected to put several medical experts on the stand. He told the
jury at the beginning of the trial that those experts will say that
an injury that the baby sustained at birth caused his brain to
bleed.Wilkov would not say if Bodnar will take the stand.
To find Bodnar guilty, the jury does not have to conclude that
he intentionally hurt the baby, only that his reckless actions
caused the child’s injuries.Bodnar is free on bail. Due to a bail condition that he is not
to have any contact with the baby, he has been living at his
parents’ Middletown home since his arrest.Kushmore testified that the baby has fully recovered from his
injuries and is walking and beginning to talk. Bodnar broke into a
huge grin at the defense table as she described the child’s
progress.
