MONROE — A Monroe man was charged earlier this month with felony child abuse after his infant son was diagnosed with two skull fractures.
Skylar James Martin, 25, faces up to 15 years in prison for the Class E felony charge. He is jailed on a $2,000 cash bond in the case, with conditions including no contact with anyone under the age of 18.
At Martin’s preliminary hearing June 20, after hearing testimony from a human services worker, Judge Thomas Vale found probable cause for the charge.
Martin was bound over for trial and has a pre-trial conference July 2.
According to detective reports included with the criminal complaint:
On March 14, a Monroe police detective was contacted by Green County Human Services with a report that a 5-month-old had serious bruising to his face.
The infant’s mother said her son has colic and screams hard enough to cause bruising to himself.
But Amanda Palm, a physician assistant at UW Health in Madison who specializes in child protection cases, told the mother babies do not get bruising like this from crying and the bruising was “from trauma.” Palm diagnosed the baby with two skull fractures.
The baby’s mother told the detective she and Martin both get frustrated once in a while with the baby’s fussiness but wouldn’t harm him. She said if Martin ever hurt the baby, she “would take the kids in a heartbeat.”
A family member told the detective the baby’s parents “are trying so hard.”
The detective located a family member who had been at Martin’s residence the day the bruising appeared on the baby. The family member said he overheard Martin yelling and getting frustrated with the baby but did not witness any abuse. Later, the family member wrote a statement that he heard Martin throw the baby on a bed that day and heard a smacking sound, after which the baby “began to scream louder.”
When interviewed by the detective, Martin said he called family for help because he was “struggling” to calm the baby. He said he believed the bruising was from the baby’s own “screaming and grabbing.” He repeatedly said he did not hit his child.
When the detective showed Martin pictures of the baby’s injuries, Martin “became upset” and moved several seats away from the detective, then asked for a lawyer.