Man takes plea deal in child abuse case

The kind of injuries suffered by Tony Luck’s granddaughter five years ago fall under a familiar term that few actually understand: “shaken baby syndrome.”

But as Luck walked to the front of the courtroom Tuesday to address the man charged with abusing his 9-month-old granddaughter in 2010, he wanted to show a struggle that lingers long after babyhood.

There were the grueling weeks in the hospital, worrying whether the baby would survive. The months of thinking their little girl was blind and wondering if she would ever walk.

The little girl, now 5, “has to fight to do what others of her age do normally every day,” Luck said. She struggles to walk and to see.

“The only thing the child had asked of you was to be loved and cared for and to be protected,” the grandfather told the man in the jumpsuit and handcuffs. “Jason, you betrayed her.”

Jason Wandell, 27, was given an eight-year jail sentence after pleading no contest to attempted child abuse before Hamilton County Criminal Court Special Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood on Tuesday. Most of that sentence was already been served while Wandell awaited trial.

No contest does not mean that Wandell has admitted guilt, but rather that he will not fight the charges.

He was originally charged with aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect, but the terms of his plea deal mean he was charged with the lesser offense.

The child was not present for the hearing, and Wandell did not look at the family during the hearing. But her grandfather spoke so Wandell will know “the actions that you took have a consequence.”

The girl has required three leg surgeries, along with two eye surgeries just to see. She is still legally blind in one eye. She requires therapy three to four times a week.

“All these things she has gone through while being scared,” Luck said. “She’s looking at you and crying and begging you to make these people quit. I often think is this what it was like in that early morning when she must have been so scared and unable to cry for help.”

Luck was referring to the early hours of July 17, 2010, when Wandell was supposed to care for the baby while the child’s mother, Carisa Luck, worked a night shift job. Wandell and the child’s mother lived together at the time.

Around 4 a.m. that morning, Wandell called the mother to tell her the child was unresponsive and the child was rushed to the hospital. He maintained that he accidentally dropped the child while changing her diaper.

But the DA’s office said they had doctors and experts prepared to testify that the baby’s severe brain injuries instead showed signs of shaken baby syndrome.

That condition – also known as abusive head trauma – occurs when a child is forcefully shaken or the child’s head strikes a hard surface, causing severe and lasting brain damage.

Babies who survive abusive head trauma often face lifelong disabilities, said Dr. Annamaria Church, a pediatrician at T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital at Erlanger, who has treated abuse-related medical cases for years.

The children’s hospital has seen about six cases of abusive head trauma this year. But Church cautioned those numbers don’t necessarily reveal the scope of such abuse.

“These are just the ones that come to our attention. These are the bad ones,” Church said. “We’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg.”

Wandell’s attorney, Ben McGowan, said that he was prepared to fight the accusations, and that the defense had lined up their own injury expert to consult in the case.

But when that consultant contacted the team last week to tell them that she had taken a new job and could no longer consult on the case, McGowan said Wandell told him he was ready to settle the case.

Wandell also pleaded no contest on charges that he made harassing calls to the child’s family from the Hamilton County Jail.

On Tuesday, Tony Luck told Wandell that nothing “will ever fix or make what you have done right.”

“But I tell you, this child is the most loving and precious child that anyone has ever met. And how you could have hurt her that early morning we will never be able to understand.”

Contact staff writer Kate Belz at kbelz@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.