CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man pleaded guilty to assaulting a 2-year-old girl during plea and sentencing court.
Robert J. Misho, 28, 117 Smith St., Clearfield, was charged with aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children after an incident on April 21 in Clearfield.
He pleaded guilty before Judge Paul E. Cherry and was sentenced to 16 months to five years in state prison. Misho was fined $2 plus costs and ordered to complete anger management counseling.
Before the sentence was announced, Misho apologized and stated he was “truly, deeply sorry for my actions”.
Testimony in the preliminary hearing came from the victim’s mother. She testified that she was in the shower when she heard her daughter crying. After she got dressed, she went to check on her and found her holding her head in her hand. The girl had a bruise on the top of her forehead.
Misho, who lived with her, came into the room. He admitted he slapped the girl and she fell into the crib, she testified. But he didn’t want her to take the child to the hospital because he was afraid he’d go to jail. They decided to just watch her overnight.
The next morning, the bruising was worse and the mother took her to the emergency room at Penn Highlands Clearfield.
A doctor ordered x-rays and a CAT scan for the child. The mother spoke with police officers and a caseworker from Clearfield County Children and Youth Services.
Elizabeth Frailey, a caseworker with CYS, testified that she met with the victim’s mother at the hospital. She saw the bruises on the girl’s face including her cheeks and forehead. Frailey spoke with her supervisor who said they should call police.
The girl was transferred to Geisinger Medical Center because the doctors wanted to be sure she had no underlying injuries.
A report from the hospital listed a total of 72 bruises on her forehead, cheek, neck, shoulder, chest, arm, upper back, abdomen, left flank, buttocks and lower back. A determination was made that these were the result of a beating by an adult.
Frailey said the doctor at Geisinger told her the girl was very lucky because the injuries could have been life threatening. Photos of the girl taken before she was released from Geisinger showed a severely bruised face.
Both the child and her 8-year-old brother are now in foster care, Frailey said.
Officer Nathan Curry of the Clearfield Borough police testified at the hearing that when he questioned Misho, he said he was disgusted with himself and that he deserved to rot in hell for hurting the girl. When shown a photo of the injuries on the left side of the girl’s face, Misho said “I own that.”