CLEARFIELD – After hearing from several family members, a judge decided not to send a DuBois man to state prison for seriously injuring his four-month-old daughter.
Dean Garrett Sulin, 30, was charged in October of 2020 with three counts of aggravated assault in relation to his actions in January of 2018.
During sentencing court Monday, the family explained to Judge Paul E. Cherry how Sulin has changed and turned his life around.
One said it took a while for her to forgive him for his actions, but now they celebrate holidays together. Because he was granted supervised visits, the child looks forward to seeing him. She stated that if he goes to jail, it will be disruptive to the girl’s life.
Another said that he is a “changed man” who works with him every day in the family business. He also asked that the judge be lenient toward Sulin for the girl’s sake.
His grandmother said previously he was not prepared for being a father but now he is drug free and works long hours.
“No matter what happens today, we are proud of him for taking responsibility for the child and turning his life around.
“The person you are talking about today (who assaulted the girl) is just a memory.”
Sulin himself explained that four years ago when the assaults occurred, he was a drug addict who hit rock bottom when he was told he would never see his daughter again.
At that point, he decided to change and entered into a drug rehabilitation program. He also began therapy and took parenting classes.
For the last two years, he has been rebuilding his relationship with his daughter who he talks to “50 times a day.”
“She is my whole world.”
He admitted that he was not a good person when this happened and he had “no business trying to take care of a child when I couldn’t even take care of myself.”
Sulin noted that he missed a lot of her early life and didn’t want to miss any more of it.
“Please don’t take her away from me,” he asked.
It was noted that Cherry was aware of the custody issues for this girl and her family. Cherry stated that Sulin has been allowed supervised visits since February of 2020 and this would continue to be permitted.
He commended Sulin for stepping up and said he was taking into account how Sulin voluntarily got help for his issues. But, he said, he couldn’t disregard the injuries to this baby.
“Luckily she survived,” he said, adding the injuries were nearly fatal.
Cherry stated he had intended to send Sulin to state prison, but decided not to do this, only because of the impact it would have on the child.
“What you did was reprehensible” Cherry noted, saying this is something Sulin will have to live with for the rest of his life.
Sulin pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault and was sentenced by Cherry to nine months to two years less one day with four years consecutive probation.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, an investigation began after a representative from Clearfield County Children, Youth and Family Services contacted police regarding a suspected case of child abuse.
The victim had been taken by ambulance to Penn Highlands DuBois on Jan. 31, 2018 where it was discovered she had abusive head trauma or “shaken baby syndrome.”
When police questioned the attending physician, he said the victim had notable swelling in the frontal area of her brain, which was confirmed to be a bilateral subdural hematoma.
The last time the victim had been seen by a medical professional, was Jan. 28, 2018 for vomiting.
Due to the severity of her injuries, the child was flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.
In an interview with investigators on Jan. 31, 2018, the victim’s uncle stated that Sulin had admitted to him that he had dropped the baby several times.
This witness had personally seen Sulin yell and aggressively shake the victim when she was crying, police said.
Dr. Jennifer Wolford at the Children’s Hospital indicated the child had signs of abusive head trauma and an older, previous instance of abusive head trauma.
An MRI showed the victim had retinal hemorrhages.
The details of her injuries indicated that she had been injured just prior to emergency personnel arriving at her home, the doctor concluded.
Wolford stated that the victim had life-threatening injuries upon admission to the hospital and was a “near fatality as a result of the abuse.”
In her interview with police on Feb. 1, 2018, the mother admitted to seeing prior injuries to the child after being in the care of Sulin including a cut and bruise to her bottom lip, a bruise on her buttocks, a bruise to the left of her stomach and on her forehead.
She stated that in the week prior the child had been sick; crying, vomiting, not sleeping and appeared to be in pain.
Police say she reported that Sulin was aggressive with the child, yelling and screaming at the victim when she cried.
She had seen him pick the baby up only by her arms and aggressively shake her while yelling “shut the [expletive] up” in the child’s face, according to the complaint.
His aggressive behavior with the child started when she was a month old and continued until she was taken to the hospital, the mother said.
She explained that on Jan. 31, 2018, she was at work when Sulin called to tell her EMS was taking the baby to the hospital. The child was reportedly in his care exclusively at that time.