Last November, in nearby Winfield a father was charged with shaking and injuring his four-month-old daughter. Jeffrey Sienkiewicz, 40, subsequently signed a plea deal on October 10, 2023- he signed the plea deal for battery resulting in bodily injury to a person less than 14 years of age, a Level 5 felony. Part of his agreement in the plea deal required him to continue mental health treatment in addition to anger management.
The girl’s mother, a doctor took the child to Lurie Children’s Hospital to be examined. Law enforcement alleges the girl’s injuries happened at their Winfield home on Nov. 8, 2022. Their other children, then aged 10, 7, and 3, were home from school with e-learning for election day, he told police.
“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.
On November 8th, Sienkiewicz made a panicky call to the baby’s mother saying she wasn’t acting normal. and was kinda “limp,” according to court records. The mother told him to take the girl to Lurie’s in Chicago and asked if she could examine the girl.
Via a Facetime call between the mother and father, the baby appeared ok but was crying and hiccuping. The next day, November 9, 2022- Documents state the child apparently had a seizure, went limp and her arms stiffened. The child began violently vomiting. Their pediatrician advised the mother to take the baby to Dyer Franciscan Health for examination and tests, according to court documents. After the mother transported the baby to the health facility, 3 doctors stated the child seemed ok and she was released and taken back home.
Concerned about the child, the pediatrician called the mother back to check up on the baby and was concerned the baby had fluid in her brain. The mother then took her back to Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Doctors and Nurses at Lurie concluded the child had a brain bleed. To staff, these were signs of potential child abuse, court records state. The mother urged hospital staff to have their child abuse team begin their investigation immediately.
When questioned by the mother, Sienkiewicz told her three different stories about what happened. At first he said an older sibling had shaken the baby, something the doctor dismissed right away because of her medical training. Later he stated that the dog knocked the baby over when she was in her stroller, he managed to grab her before she hit the floor. Court documents state that he admitted he may have grabbed her “aggressively”. An older child told law enforcement he often pushed her stroller into a wall or squeezed her when she cried too much. To which Sienkiewicz denied the accusation, and later said he loved the child and would never hurt her.
The girl was expected to recover, according to court documents.
The father could get five years on probation for admitting to shaking his four-month-old daughter, court records allege. He would also continue mental health counseling with an anger management focus, records show. Judge Gina Jones would have to review and accept the deal. He appeared for a plea change hearing on Wednesday. His sentencing hearing is Nov. 29.
This is wrong