A Cuyahoga Falls man tearfully denied Wednesday hurting his girlfriend’s then 8-month-old daughter last year, saying the injuries that left the girl with serious brain injuries were accidental.
William Jobe said the girl, who is now about a year and a half, had vomited and he was rushing to get her out of her walker. He said he tried about four times before he got her out.
“I am truly sorry,” he said during his emotional sentencing in Summit County Common Pleas Court. “I didn’t mean for this to happen … I think about this every day.”
Prosecutors, however, say the injuries the girl suffered last August while in Jobe’s care were consistent with being violently shaken. The girl was initially paralyzed and could only gaze to the left. She still suffers from seizures and sleep apnea.
Judge Paul Gallagher followed the recommendation of prosecutors and sentenced Jobe, who has no previous record, to five years in prison.
Jobe, 29, pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to child endangering, a second-degree felony. He faced up to eight years in prison.
Jobe was arrested after police say he admitted shaking his girlfriend’s baby Aug. 17, 2015, in the Second Street home he shared with the girl’s mother. He called police and paramedics to report that the baby was having trouble breathing. The girl was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital where she was admitted to the intensive care unit with serious injuries.
Erin Austin, the girl’s mother, spoke during the sentencing, urging that Jobe get the maximum possible prison sentence. She said Jobe hasn’t shown remorse and refused to tell her what happened to her daughter.
“I wish he could go through what she went through and suffer like she suffered,” she said.
Austin said her daughter was initially blind because she had blood in both eyes, had constant seizures and was paralyzed on her right side. She said the girl cried out in pain, had to be given large doses of medicine and had to relearn how to hold up her head. She said her daughter still suffers from seizures that cause temporary paralysis and took a step back in her development.
“She can no longer say Mama and Dada,” Austin said, crying.
Leslie Duncan, the father of the girl, also said he thought the highest possible penalty was warranted for Jobe. He is in jail for an unrelated offense and wore an orange prison jumpsuit.
“This is just unjust,” he said, sniffling. “Drug dealers get as much time as he is. I hope he gets what he deserves. God’s going to get him in the end.”
Assistant Prosecutor Dustin Roth said the girl’s long-term prognosis is unclear.
Karen Jobe, Williams’ mother argued for leniency for her son. Jobe began to cry when his mother talked about how he helped to care for her 18-month-old grandson after Jobe’s sister died. She said Jobe is a good father to his own son and treated Austin’s four children like they were his own.
“He’s never been in trouble,” the mother said.
Jobe said he and Austin met in an online dating website and he immediately fell in love with her infant daughter when she “looked up at me with her big blue eyes.” He said he and Austin both had jobs and he helped her around the house and took care of the children while she worked.
Jobe said the girl suffered minor injuries in the days leading up to her hospitalization when she fell out of a stroller while the family was at the beach and tumbled into a television stand. On the day the girl was injured more severely, he said she vomited while she was in her walker and he tried three to four times to get her out of the walker so he could clean her up.
Charles Lazzaro, Jobe’s attorney, asked Jobe if he feels responsible for the girl’s injuries.
“Even though it was accidental, it came at my hands,” Jobe responded.
Lazzaro asked if Jobe had it to do over again, would he do it in the same way.
“Nope,” Jobe responded, sobbing.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.