A 24-year-old Batavia man is headed to prison after pleading guilty to causing permanent injuries to his girlfriend’s 7-week-old son in northwest suburban Elgin.
Anthony B. Briden was sentenced to 13 years in prison on April 26 by Circuit Judge John A. Basanti, according to the Kane County state’s attorney’s office. Briden pleaded guilty to felony aggravated battery to a child younger than 13 causing permeant disability and felony aggravated domestic battery in December of last year.
About 2:30 a.m. on March 5, 2016, the baby was asleep in a bouncy chair next to Briden’s bed in a house they shared with the baby’s mother in Elgin, the state’s attorney’s office said. The baby woke up to be fed and Briden grabbed him by the ankle and swung him on the bed, breaking his leg.
Three days later, Briden was with the baby and another child when the baby began to cry, the state’s attorney’s office said. Briden placed the baby on his knee and shook him to try to quiet him. The baby had seizures about four hours later.
Briden and his girlfriend took the baby to the hospital and doctors determined he had suffered broken ribs and a severe brain injury, the state’s attorney’s office said. Briden admitted to police that he was the cause of the injuries in an interview a few days later.
The baby can’t speak, see, walk or eat on his own because of the injuries and requires around-the-clock care, the state’s attorney’s office said.
Briden must also register for life as a violent offender against youth in addition to his prison term, the state’s attorney’s office said. He was given credit for 1,140 days served in the Kane County Jail.
