Dietrich Williams, who admitted in December that he abused an infant left in his care last summer, was sent to state prison by Judge Robert C. Noonan yesterday.
Williams was given a 12-year prison term.
The baby suffered severe head trauma after he shook the little girl and slammed her head against a hard surface in what was apparently an attempt to quiet her down.
Williams was reportedly acting as a babysitter for his girlfriend, whom he was staying with at the time.
A week before Williams entered his guilty plea, the little girl's mother wrote to The Batavian and said the child, who has needed much therapy and is likely to need help for many, many years, is doing much better.
Williams was originally charged with assault 1st, which carried a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, but in order to facilitate a plea without a trial, District Attorney Lawrence Friedman accepted a guilty plea to attempted assault 1st, which carried a maximum penalty of 15 years in State Prison. The minimum sentence available to Noonan was three and a half years.
As part of his guilty plea, Williams had to admit to the factual circumstances of the case.
