Father to serve 6 months in deal
Wife sentenced for girl's beating
By DANIEL BARRICK
Monitor staff
February 24, 2010 - 12:00 am
Daniel LeBlanc, whose ex-wife was sentenced last month for severely beating his daughter at their Webster home two years ago, will spend at least six months in jail for failing to promptly take the child to a hospital.
LeBlanc, 33, was scheduled to go to trial on three charges related to the beating, including two counts of simple assault for striking the child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child for waiting two days until seeking medical care for his daughter, who was 8 years old at the time of the beating. But LeBlanc pleaded guilty to the last charge last week. In return, prosecutors dropped the assault counts. All were misdemeanor charges.
LeBlanc, who now lives in Belmont, was sentenced to serve 12 months in jail, though half of that sentence will be suspended provided he maintains good behavior for the next five years. The sentence, signed last week by Judge Diane Nicolosi, also requires LeBlanc to undergo counseling and treatment as directed by the corrections department and the state Division for Children, Youth and Families.
He must also complete domestic violence counseling, and he can have no unsupervised contact with his daughter or another child who was living with him at the time of the assault.
LeBlanc's sentence begins March 19.
Rachel Harrington, the assistant Merrimack County attorney who handled the case, said prosecutors agreed to LeBlanc's plea deal in part to avoid a trial that would have required his daughter to testify before a jury.
"The primary concern in this resolution was the well-being of the victim in this case," Harrington said, "and to reach an appropriate resolution but still spare her the trial process."
Cara LeBlanc, Daniel LeBlanc's ex-wife, was sentenced in January to serve between six and 20 years for her role in the beating of the girl, who was living with the couple at the time of the assault in July 2008. Cara LeBlanc is not the girl's biological mother.
According to the police, Cara LeBlanc repeatedly struck the girl's head against a wood floor, threw her down stairs, dragged her up the stairs by her hair, tied her to a door and kicked her in the stomach and legs, and locked her in an overheated room for an extended period. Cara LeBlanc was charged with a total of 16 felonies and misdemeanors.
The girl suffered severe injuries from the beating, including a broken vertebra and ribs, kidney and liver damage, and bruises over her body and face. According to the police, Daniel LeBlanc also struck the girl with a stick and a belt. The police said he waited two days before taking the girl to the hospital. At the time, the pediatric director at Children's Hospital in Boston said it was one of the worst cases of child abuse he had ever seen, according to the police.
Cara LeBlanc's sentence was part of a plea deal reached with prosecutors in which she pleaded guilty to seven charges: two counts each of second-degree assault and simple assault and one count each of criminal restraint, witness tampering and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to his attorney, Nicholas Brodich, Daniel LeBlanc is a full-time college student and has served with the New Hampshire Army National Guard for the past 12 years. Brodich said LeBlanc's conviction will not affect his service with the Guard.
"If a drill comes up when he's incarcerated, we'll have to deal with it at that point," Brodich said. "But given the relatively short duration of the incarceration, with everyone being flexible, I think he'll be able to keep up his commitment."
Had Daniel LeBlanc been convicted of the two simple assault charges, which are considered domestic violence charges, "it would have made his future in the Guard tenuous at best," Brodich said.
Brodich said he did not know LeBlanc's rank in the Guard. A message with the New Hampshire National Guard's public relations office was not returned yesterday.
At the time of the assault on his daughter, Daniel LeBlanc worked as a guard at the state prison in Concord. According to a court filing by his attorney, LeBlanc lost that job after he was charged in the beating.
Daniel LeBlanc's case file also indicates several conflicts in past months with the court's pretrial services. According to documents on file at Merrimack County Superior Court, Daniel LeBlanc failed to attend a domestic violence treatment program ordered by pretrial services, missed meetings with the service officials and missed his court-ordered 9 p.m. curfew on at least one occasion.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100224/FRONTPAGE/2240312#comment-113177
My daughter is the Mom accused in this case. I have information the state didn't release regarding the events of the day in question. I have been fighting for the last year and a half to get my grandson away from DCYF and get him out of foster care. My nine-year-old grandson has been put on a residential treatment facility, he has not been allowed
ReplyDeleteTreatment facility, he has not been allowed to see or speak to his mother, or his grandfather since this has happened. His foster home is a polyandrous household (which mean both foster parents have other lovers living in the house). He has failed the second grand and hi foster mother is a schoolteacher, how does that happen???? So far I have been told by the State of NH I should have turned my back on my daughter if I loved my grandson and really wanted him. DCYF attorney has stated in court that they needed to " preserve my grandson as a witness against his mother" which was one of their reasons for him not to be with me. I know my daughter is not totally innocent, but she did not beat this child the way she has been charged. My former son in law confessed to me after my grandson told me that the father had beaten this little girl with a piece of hard wood flooring when he came home that day. Also that the Dr at the VA hospital wanted to commit my son in law to the hospital that day because they felt he was a danger to him self and his family. He had been accused of sexually harassing another CO at the NH state prison the day this happened, and was drinking and taking drugs heavily. My son in law called me the day he finally took his daughter to the hospital and asked me to "hide her out, because if his mother saw the little girl he would go to jail" his words. He then called my ex husband and asked him to hide her out. The Dr's and staff at children’s hospital have written reports (which I have copies of) that they feel the father caused the injuries and describe the little girl as being "scared to death of her father". I have to wonder if being a badged officer and a member of the law enforcement community changed this half assed investigation. My son in law was banned from children’s hospital after leaving their for a few hours and returning drunk, and asking 2 of the nurses their to have a sexual encounter with him (in front of his daughter).
My nine-year-old grandson has been a victim of this entire process. My daughter has never been accused of causing any harm to her son and yet the State of NH is about to terminate her rights to her child and place this boy for adoption with his ploy amorous foster parents. How do I stop the state? So far I have spent over $100,000 and cannot spend anymore, so have they won because I ran out of money? Does this little boy lose because the State wanted to punish his mother even more? Does my baby grandson (who the state never tried to take away from my daughter) lose his big brother? My daughter pled guilty and is taking her punishment for her actions, my former son in law gets 6 months and will have his children back in the future, how is this fair. If anyone has suggestions please share with me. I am running out of time and DCYF and the family courts in NH are holding my grandson hostage. You know if they told me the ransom amount I would have paid it. Thank you for listening.
you know I wonder why the press did not mention one word about Daniel Leblanc going to jail yesterday? They were in my daughters face and my face every chance they got, yet I have only seen his picture posted once. I also wonder about the press because I have tired to post comments on WMUR and Concord Monitors website and neither have posted. I think the press is afraid to expose the curruption in the court and DCYF, or maybe they are a knowing partner.
ReplyDeleteI have posted pictures in the past on ULocal of WMUR, along with my story.They were pictures of my grandson, Austin Knightly, kidnapped by Nashua DCYF and doped up on Adderal, due to his newfound violent behavior, which most kids stolen from their families experience. The pictures and story were removed. I guess the sponsorship of DCYF and CASA in NH mean more to WMUR than the life of a child. The Union Leader is no better.The Nashua Telegraph and the Concord Monitor, I've had no problem with. Media in the State of NH are afraid to expose the truth. I guess it's time to go to the Media in states that believe in exposing corruption. The NH media is afraid to step on it's Governments toes!
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