Orangeburg County man sentenced for causing multiple injuries to 3-month-old

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - An Orangeburg County man has been sentenced by Judge Eugene Griffith in connection with causing multiple injuries to a 3-month-old baby.

According to Solicitor David Pascoe after four hours of deliberation, an Orangeburg County jury found 43-year-old Kareem Wallace guilty of unlawful neglect of a child.

Judge Griffith sentenced Wallace to 6 years suspended on the service of 2 years of active imprisonment with 30 months of probation to follow.

Investigators say on August 28, 2018, Wallace’s girlfriend left him alone with the child while she took another child to school around 7:45 a.m.

Wallace told investigators he took the infant into the bedroom and fell asleep.

He then says he woke up to the infant crying, so he picked her up by her left arm and took her into the kitchen to make a bottle.

When the child’s mother returned home, the child was still crying and her arm was limp, according to officials.

The mother then decided to take the child to the hospital for a check-up.

Medical staff at the hospital suspected child abuse and took the infant to Prisma Children’s Hospital in Columbia to be treated by a forensic nurse practitioner.

That is when the forensic nurse practitioner found the child had a fracture in one arm, a broken collarbone, and two fractures on one leg.

Medical officials say the child suffered metaphyseal corner fractures which are signs of non-accidental injuries caused by twisting or jerking and vigorous shaking, and most importantly child abuse.

At sentencing, the judge explained denying the State’s request for a maximum sentence by saying he felt the incident was a “one-off” right before sentencing him to two years in prison.

Lead prosecutor Catherine Hunter stated, “This defenseless 3-month-old baby didn’t deserve what happened to her. It is heartbreaking. I am very grateful for the medical staff who treated her and the Orangeburg Sheriff’s Office for their hard work on this difficult case.”

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Solicitor Catherine Hunter with Assistant Solicitor Mark Hinds.

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