FAYETTEVILLE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – An Oak Hill man will see prison time for Felony abuse of his infant child following a Friday sentencing.
Fayette County Prosecuting Attorney Anthony Ciliberti Jr. reports that, on September 3, 2019, child protective services and police responded to Raleigh General Hospital after two parents brought their infant child to the emergency room with a swollen leg.
Documentation conducted by doctors during the visit points out that the baby was dehydrated and in obvious pain when it had been brought in.
The baby, seven-weeks-old at the time, was later admitted to Women & Children’s Hospital. There, testing confirmed the baby to have healing fractures in six of its ribs and two bones in its right leg which were determined to have been at least a week old.
Neither of the parents were able to offer an adequate explanation for the condition of the infant. However, the father – Carson L. Blankenship – eventually admitted to having squeezed and shook the baby “out of frustration.”
On Monday, January 23, 2023, Carson L. Blankenship – age 21 of Oak Hill, WV – was sentenced by Chief Judge Paul M. Blake Jr. to 2-10 years in prison for the felony crime of child abuse resulting in serious bodily inujury, as well as 1-10 years in prison for the felony crime of child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury. Blankenship pled guilty to these felony charges on March 10, 2022.
These sentences were ordered to be served consecutively, meaning that Blankenship’s maximum sentence will be 20 years, while he must serve a minimum of 3 years in prison before potentially becoming eligible for parole.
The case was investigated by the West Virginia State Police and was prosecuted by former Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jennifer D. Crane, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney WIlliam C. Burdick, and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Sarah F. Smith.
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