A Virginia soldier violently shook a crying newborn until she flipped and landed on her head -- then lied about it, leaving the child with permanent brain damage and blindness, officials said.
A former US Army soldier based at Fort Belvoir has pleaded guilty to brutally shaking a 16-day-old infant, causing severe injuries that left her legally blind and permanently brain damaged, according to federal prosecutors.
Austin Blair Johnson, 35, entered the guilty plea on Friday, May 30, in US District Court in Alexandria, the US Attorney's Office announced.
Johnson was serving active duty when the abuse took place on June 25, 2012, while he was left alone to care for the baby girl, who weighed just five pounds at the time.
"Johnson became frustrated when the infant continued to cry," officials said. "He rapidly and forcefully shook the infant multiple times before letting go of her, causing her to flip and land on her head."
After the violent assault, Johnson woke the child's mother and tried to cover it up.
He told her "he had accidentally dropped the baby but broke her fall with his foot," according to prosecutors.
The infant was rushed to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, where doctors saw signs of trauma. She was transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for emergency evaluation.
Medical staff quickly determined that the baby had suffered a skull fracture, bleeding in the brain, and hemorrhaging in both eyes -- classic symptoms of shaken baby syndrome.
The infant was diagnosed with abusive head trauma. She is now permanently brain damaged and legally blind. The entire right side of her body is paralyzed, and she is nonverbal.
Officials say that the girl "functions at the level of a mature infant."
According to federal officials, the day the girl was discharged, she was left in Johnson's care while her mother was out, when he again "rapidly and forcefully shook (the juvenile) and dropped her."
The girl was taken to a pediatrician at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, where the infant began having seizures, sending her back to the emergency room.
She was transferred later to the PICU at Children's National Medical Center, where doctors discovered myriad injuries, including a second skull fracture, and identified extensive brain damage.
In addition to the child abuse, Johnson also admitted to sexually assaulting the infant's mother -- forcing himself on her after she rejected his advances, prosecutors said.
Johnson, who served in the Army from October 2010 to September 2013, now faces a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced in September.
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