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CLEARFIELD -- A Clearfield man accused of assaulting a 16-month-old child was found guilty after a two-day trail in Clearfield County Court.
State police charged Jeremy Michael Sipe, 45, with felony endangering the welfare of a child and misdemeanor simple assault in connection to his actions on July 15, 2022, at a home in Goshen Township, Clearfield County.
The criminal complaint details how police were contacted after the child was taken to Penn Highlands Clearfield. Initially the story was the child had fallen over a baby gate.
Later, a report from the UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh indicated the child had "numerous bruises on the left side of the head and face." The bruises extended up into his hairline past the left temple and above his ear. His lips had some swelling and bruising.
"These bruises are most consistent with inflicted trauma to the face, possibly a hand slap. This is diagnostic of physical child abuse," according to the report, which went on to state "if this child returns to this same environment without intervention, he is at serious risk for continued abuse and life-threatening injury."
It took a jury less than an hour Thursday to find Sipe guilty on both charges.
In a brief interview after the trial, District Attorney Ryan Sayers stated that the victim has fully recovered from his injuries and is back with his mother.
"Justice was served today for that child," Sayers commented. He thanked the police, especially Trooper Matthew Peacock and the medical staff who treated the victim for their work on this case.
"Their diagnosis got us to where we are today."
Sipe is looking at a minimum sentence of 15 to 21 months for the felony charge, Sayers said. Online court documents indicate he is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11.
Sipe remains incarcerated on $25,000 bail.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, when investigators spoke with the mother about the incident, she said Sipe was in her home with the child while she was outside looking for her dog.
When she got back inside, she saw him outside walking with the baby up the hill. She yelled for him to bring the baby back, but he acted like he didn't hear her.
Eventually he went back into the house where she met him in the kitchen.
The child was fussing, she said and when she looked at him, she could see he was injured. She asked Sipe what happened to the boy, and he claimed he tripped over the baby gate.
She didn't believe him and asked what he did to the child's face. He responded that he "wasn't dealing with this and left," she said.
In his interview with police, Sipe explained when the victim's mother went outside to look for the dog, she didn't put the gate back, but just leaned it up.
After a few minutes he heard a loud noise and found the child lying on his face on the gate, he claimed.
When the victim's mother returned, she yelled at him for hurting the baby. He said the only injury he saw was to the child's lip.
At one point in his conversation with police, he reportedly admitted to using methamphetamine and said he smoked some residue the morning of the incident. He continued to deny he did anything to cause the child's injuries, but confirmed he was the only one in the house with the child, police said.