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Medford man on trial for allegedly assaulting baby Henthorne Tuesday Apr 4, 2017 at 6:56 PM Apr 4, 2017 at 7:04 PM Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune @VickieAldous A Medford man is on trial for allegedly assaulting a baby boy left in his care, then failing to seek medical care for hours after the attack. Petey Ray Henthorne, 28, faces charges of first-degree assault and first-degree criminal mistreatment after a 1-year old baby was taken by ambulance to the Rogue Regional Medical Center on March 24, 2015. The baby was then flown to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, where he suffered a stroke and seizures. Now a 3-year-old, the boy has cerebral palsy, which impairs his ability to move on one side, said Jackson County Senior Deputy District Attorney Terry Smith-Norton. Among other injuries, the baby suffered bleeding in his brain and eyes, broken bones and bruising inside his mouth and to his face, head, genitals, abdomen, back and legs. Henthorne told his girlfriend he was trying to change the baby's diaper and went into another room looking for diaper wipes. Henthorne said the baby fell off a bed and landed on his head. Henthorne's trial started Tuesday and is expected to take three days in Jackson County Circuit Court. His court-appointed defense attorney, Paul Moser, said Henthorne heard a loud thud while looking for the baby wipes, then came back into the bedroom to find the baby had landed on his head, with his feet arched over him like a scorpion. Moser said prosecutors will not be able to prove Henthorne caused the boy's medical problems. "He will testify he is not the source of these injuries," Moser said. If anything, Moser said Henthorne may be guilty of criminal mistreatment for failing to seek medical care quickly. He said if Henthorne was too scared to pick up the baby and take him to the hospital, he should have called an ambulance. According to court testimony, the baby had a rough start in life. At two weeks old, he was removed from his mother and placed in foster care with his aunt. The baby then went to live with his father, but was removed from that home at 11 months old because of drug abuse and domestic violence among the adults. The baby was again placed with his aunt, who was a foster parent for another relative's child. Henthorne was the aunt's boyfriend and the father of her 2-year-old child, Smith-Norton said. The baby's caretakers described him as a needy baby who often cried and always wanted to have the aunt in his sight. The aunt and Henthorne would strap him into a Native American cradle board, where he was unable to move his arms and legs, Smith-Norton said. At about 3 p.m. on March 24, 2015, the baby was left in Henthorne's care while the aunt dropped other kids off to go fishing and ran errands, Smith-Norton said. Starting at 4 p.m., the aunt began receiving texts from Henthorne in which he said the baby had taken a nasty fall off a bed and landed on his face and head. He said the baby was acting dazed. In one text, Henthorne said the baby "was acting like he was a veggie," an apparent reference to people in a vegetative state who are unresponsive, Smith-Norton said. The aunt arrived home at 5 p.m. and didn't immediately check on the baby. Later, when the baby was lifted from the bed, he was unable to hold up his head. The aunt instructed Henthorne to take the baby to the emergency room at Providence Medford Medical Center. She went to buy formula and planned to meet them there, but could not find Henthorne's vehicle at the hospital when she arrived, Smith-Norton said. The aunt arrived back home at about 5:38 p.m. and found Henthorne still there with the baby. She then made two 911 calls at 6:08 and 6:23 p.m., telling dispatchers the baby was injured after falling off a bed while in the care of her boyfriend, Smith-Norton said. In the second call, the aunt said the baby was passing out. She is heard repeatedly urging, "Wake up, baby." Dispatchers sent a Mercy Flights ground ambulance crew, as well as a Medford Police Department officer. MPD Corporal William Dode testified the baby's injuries were extensive and not consistent with a fall off a bed. A paramedic from Mercy Flights said when she arrived, the aunt seemed unusually relaxed and kept saying the baby is anemic, bruises easily and hurts himself. The paramedic said the baby was essentially bruised from head to toe — injuries not consistent with a fall. Unlike most kids who cry after a fall, the baby appeared lifeless on the bed. Smith-Norton said medical tests showed the baby has no blood disorders or brittle bone disease that could lead to easy bruising or broken bones. Among his more unusual injuries, he had what appeared to be an adult bite mark on his cheek, bruising inside his ears and ligature marks on his neck as if someone had tied a string or similar item around his neck. The blood supply was also cut off to his head from pressure applied to his throat and carotid artery, she said. Enzymes produced by his kidneys indicated he suffered a blow to the body, Smith-Norton said. She said the boy is now well cared for in a new foster home, but will need years of physical therapy and visits to doctors. It's not known yet what lasting cognitive impairments or vision problems he may have. Reach staff reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. Follow her at www.twitter.com/VickieAldous.