Conroe, Texas January 21, 2011 – Paul Frank Welker, Jr. was sentenced to 35 years in prison by Judge Cara Wood in the 284th District Court for causing Serious Bodily Injury to his three month old son.
Welker pleaded guilty on September 16, 2010 to the first degree felony offense of Injury to a Child, which carries a range of punishment of five years to Life in prison. Because Welker had no previous felony convictions, he was also eligible for probation.
On July 30, 2009 the child was transported to the Conroe Regional Medical Center by family members after having a seizure. The child was then Life Flighted to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas after it was determined that his skull had been fractured. While at Texas Children’s, it was also determined that the child had bleeding on his brain and fractures to his ribs and wrist that were in different stages of healing.
Welker later admitted to members of the Conroe Police Department and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office to squeezing his son’s head in order to make him stop crying. Welker stated that as soon as he squeezed his son’s head, the crying stopped, and the child passed out. Welker then held the child in his arms and told him he was sorry.
During the punishment hearing, Dr. Marcella Donaruma-Kwoh, with the Texas Children’s Hospital Child Abuse Team, testified that the child’s skull fracture was one of the “worst, scariest fractures I have seen” in her years of dealing with abused children. She also testified that approximately one-third of the children with these types of injuries do not survive, and that of those who do, sixty-six percent will have problems later on in life.
Welker testified during the punishment hearing that although he did squeeze the head of his three month old son, he did not intend to cause the injuries. He then asked Judge Wood to place him probation, so that he could re-enter the Navy.
Lead prosecutor Kelly Blackburn stated, “this little boy suffered an extensive amount of abuse at the hands of his father during the first three months of his life. I asked Judge Wood to send Paul Welker to prison long enough to let his son grow up and become a man. She has done just that. The sentence handed down by Judge Wood truly sends a message, that the most vulnerable of our society deserve our protection and that there will be serious consequences for those that hurt children here in Montgomery County”.
“Anyone that would take a child’s head and squeeze it until it fractures the skull is someone that should not be allowed to live in civilized society,” said District Attorney Brett Ligon. “Judge Wood, Mr. Blackburn, the Sheriff’s office and the Conroe Police Department put the safety of the children of this community first, and I applaud them for their hard work.”
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