Batavia Man Who Shook Baby 'To Quiet Him' Gets 13 Years In Prison

BATAVIA, IL — The Kane County State's Attorney's Office said a Batavia man was sentenced Friday by Kane County Circuit Judge John A. Barsanti to 13 years in prison at the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) for causing permanent injuries to his girlfriend's baby boy back in 2016. According to a release from the state's attorney's office, 24-year-old Anthony B. Briden, of the 200 block of Violet Lane, Batavia, pleaded guilty on Dec. 5, 2018 to felony offenses of aggravated battery to a child younger than 13 causing permanent disability and aggravated domestic battery.

As a result of the injuries the victim cannot speak, see, walk or eat on his own, and requires 24-hour care, and Briden admitted to police that he caused the injuries, officials said.

According to a release, Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney William Engerman stated in court that at about 2:30 a.m. March 5, 2016, the victim, an infant boy, had been sleeping in a bouncy chair next to his bed at the Elgin home he and his mother shared with Briden. The baby woke up to be fed, and Briden grabbed him by the right ankle and swung him onto the bed, breaking his leg, according to a release.

The state's attorney's office said on March 8, 2016, Briden was alone with the victim and another child when the victim began to cry. Briden placed the victim on his knee, grabbed the victim’s arms near his shoulders and shook the victim to quiet him, and four hours later the victim began to have seizures, according to a release. The next day Briden and the victim’s mother took the baby boy to the hospital, where doctors determined that he had suffered a severe brain injury and broken ribs, according to a release.

In addition to the prison term, Briden must register for life as a violent offender against youth in accordance with the Illinois Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act, according t the state's attorney's office.

“This is a sad, infuriating and preventable case about a baby who was permanently injured by someone who had the responsibility to protect this child," Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said, in a release. "Instead he violated that trust and abused this infant. As April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, I hope others will see this child’s permanent injuries as an example of what can result from child abuse and commit to intervening on a child’s behalf if they believe that child is in danger.”