Father charged in abuse of daughter
A Winfield father is facing charges after doctors at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago concluded his 4-month-old daughter had signs of shaken baby syndrome, records show.
Jeffrey Sienkiewicz, 39, was charged Monday with neglect of a dependent, a level 1 felony and aggravated battery, a level 3 felony.
Records show he was arrested Tuesday and in custody with a bond set at $8,000 cash. His next court hearing is Jan. 11 before Lake Superior Judge Gina Jones. He had an initial hearing Wednesday. His next court appearance is Jan. 11.
The child’s mother, a medical doctor, confronted him after he told at least three different stories of what happened to the girl, an affidavit states.
“I did it. This is my fault,” he allegedly told a hospital social worker and nurse, before denying “any wrongdoing” to an Indiana Department of Child Services social worker, documents state.
Police allege the girl’s injuries happened at their Winfield home on Nov. 8. Their older kids, aged 10, 7, 3, were home from school with e-learning for election day, he told police.
The girl was expected to recover, according to court documents.
Sienkiewicz made a “frantic” phone call to the girl’s mother on Nov. 8, saying she wasn’t acting normally and was kinda “limp,” according to court records. The woman told him to take the girl to Lurie’s in Chicago, while Sienkiewicz asked if she could examine the girl.
On Facetime, the child appeared to be crying and hiccuping, but was otherwise OK when the mother saw her at home. The next day, the child appeared to have a seizure when the woman held her, as her head tilted over, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and limbs stiffened, documents state.
Minutes later, the girl started to vomit “violently,” records show.
Their pediatrician told the mother to take her to Franciscan Health Dyer for a medical sonogram. There, doctors said initial tests showed she looked ok and they returned home, court records state.
Their pediatrician called back, concerned the child had fluid in her brain. The mother took her up to Lurie’s, where the child had another seizure in the ER, the affidavit states.
Nurses and doctors concluded the child had brain bleeding and a bruise on her back — signs of potential child abuse, court records state. The mother told hospital staff to immediately have their child abuse team begin their investigation.
When the mother asked him what happened, Sienkiewicz gave three different stories. In one, he said an older sibling may have shaken the girl, a story the woman immediately dismissed because of her medical training.
He later claimed their dog knocked the stroller over, a blanket got caught, but he managed to grab the child before she hit the floor. He may have picked her up too “aggressively,” documents state.
The girl’s sibling told medical staff and his mother that Sienkiewicz sometimes pushed the child’s stroller into the wall when she cried too much or squeezed the child.
Sienkiewicz denied this, saying he loved his daughter and would never do anything to hurt her.
Police allege the child’s injuries did not fit the father’s story.