Children's Hospital Doctor Says He Did Not Abuse Infant Daughter

WAUWATOSA, WI — A former pediatric emergency room doctor faces a child abuse charge after authorities say he injured his one-month-old adopted daughter.

It's a claim that John M. Cox, 39, Wauwatosa, strongly disputes, and he has filed a motion in court to dismiss the case. His dismissal hearing is scheduled for February.

According to a JSOnline report, Cox's attorney claims a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors in Milwaukee County does not establish Cox's guilt. "The criminal complaint, in this case, is entirely devoid of any factual assertions that would support a finding of probable cause that Dr. Cox intentionally committed child abuse," according to the court motion filed by attorney Michael Levine.

Cox has been charged with physical abuse of a child. If convicted, he faces up to three years behind bars in addition to supervision, probation and possible fines.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Milwaukee County, Cox took his one-month-old daughter to Children's Hospital over concerns that she was not using her left arm, claiming that he fractured her clavicle while co-sleeping with her on May 9, 2019. Cox told the doctor that while co-sleeping with his daughter, his weight shifted, pinning her under his chest with his sternum over her right arm, the criminal complaint read.

Investigators say the doctor noticed bruising on each of the girl's arms that was consistent with the skin being "pinched." The doctor also reported finding a bruise on the girl's lower-right back.

According to the criminal complaint, the girl was given a physical abuse evaluation by medical staff. Investigators say the girl suffered numerous bruises on multiple parts of her body, and that Cox's co-sleeping story did not match the bruising they found on his daughter's body.

According to an NBC report, Cox and his wife Sadie Dobrozsi, a pediatric oncologist, have mounted a formidable defense, saying no child abuse ever took place. In the report, more than 15 medical experts reviewed Cox's case, and feel that hospital staff made key mistakes during the course of their investigation, and that the girl's injuries were consistent with his co-sleeping story. “In hindsight,” Cox said in the report, “taking her to our own hospital was the single most harmful decision that we made for our baby.”

In the criminal complaint, Nancy Harper, a board-certified child abuse physician, was hired by the Department of Milwaukee Child Protective Services to conduct a full review of the girl's medical records in order to determine whether the cause of her injuries were consistent with the explanations brought forward by Cox.

Investigators say Harper's findings run contrary to Cox's claim that he was co-sleeping with his daughter when the injuries occurred.

“In summary, there is no medical explanation for [her] injuries other than trauma. There is no
hematologic explanation for the cutaneous trauma. Bruising has not continued with a change in
placement. These injuries do not represent birth marks and are not explained by routine infant care. The clavicle fracture is not well explained by an overlay scenario in bed with an adult," she wrote in the criminal complaint. "However, forceful squeezing/compression of the torso laterally can cause both fractures of the clavicle, as well as patterned cutaneous trauma. This constellation of injuries including cutaneous trauma and a clavicle fracture is clinically diagnostic of child physical abuse or inflicted injury."

Cox is next due in court on Feb. 18 for his preliminary hearing and also a motion hearing in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.