Lynn man gets 9 to 12 years for shaking his daughter so badly he inflicted brain and vision damage

By Globe

A 29-year-old Lynn man has been sentenced to 9 to 12 years in state prison for inflicting permanent brain and vision damage on his two-month-old daughter.

José Aquino was sentenced today in Salem Superior Court by Judge Howard J. Whitehead. Aquino was convicted Monday following a six-day trial of assault and battery on a child causing substantial bodily injury. The jury had deliberated for three hours before returning its verdict.

Aquino violently shook the baby on July 28, 2009, causing severe bleeding on her brain and other injuries, prosecutors said.

Doctors told the jury that the baby's injuries could only have been inflicted by severe shaking. The baby’s mother was also charged, but after the grand jury testimony of a key witness was excluded, there was insufficient evidence to prove the case against her, and the judge “directed out” the charges against her, prosecutors said.