2 Toledoans sentenced for roles in child endangering

4/14/2009

As the mother of an 11-month-old girl, Joy Kinsman was responsible for feeding, changing, and bathing her, all of which should have revealed injuries the little girl had suffered over a period of time, a Lucas County Common Pleas judge said Monday.

"If you were caring for your child in any way I think you would have been cognizant of other things that were going wrong," Judge Denise Ann Dartt said Monday.

Kinsman, 21, of 4515 Eastway St., Apt. 1A, was sentenced to 17 months in prison Monday on a charge of attempted child endangering. The charge is the result of Kinsman's admission that she failed to get the child proper medical attention.

But Judge Dartt questioned the numerous other injuries, including fractures that appeared to be in various stages of healing, that doctors found once the girl was taken to a hospital.

Also sentenced Monday was Kinsman's former live-in boyfriend, Michael Turski, Jr., who was ordered to serve four years behind bars for his role in the child's injuries.

In a separate hearing held before Kinsman appeared in court,

Turski voiced regret for not immediately getting the child medical attention. Judge Dartt also questioned him about the extensive injures the now 1 1/2-year-old girl suffered while he was one of her caregivers.

Turski, 21, of 1922 Fairfax Rd., pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child endangering last month.

During their separate pleas March 11, Kinsman and Turski, who once lived together, admitted they neglected to get medical attention for the child despite being told by paramedics to take her to a hospital.

Assistant County Prosecutor Michael Bohner said during the plea hearings that paramedics were called to the couple's Eastway home on a report of the baby not breathing, and they told the couple to take the baby to a hospital. They failed to do so and eventually called for emergency crews again, he said.

At the hospital, the child was found to have suffered numerous broken bones and a retina hemorrhage, Mr. Bohner said. The baby also was malnourished.

Authorities said Kinsman and Turski gave conflicting stories about what happened to the child, but they were the only ones who had custody of the child during the time the injuries occurred.

Neither defendant had a criminal record.

Defense attorney Alan Konop said after the sentencing that Turski was remorseful for his role in failing to take the baby to a hospital.

When asked about the other injuries to the girl, Mr. Konop noted that his client did not admit in his plea to any other crime.

"What he pleaded to was failing to properly report the incident and failing to take the child to the hospital," he said.

Turski apologized for his actions, telling Judge Dartt he knew he "should have gotten her medial care." During her hearing, Kinsman also apologized for failing to act.

Judge Dartt said neither addressed the child's injuries. She acknowledged the pleas were a result of authorities not being able to pinpoint how the injuries were inflicted, nor by whom.

"No one was taking care of this little girl the way she should have been, that is without question," she said before ordering Turski's prison term.

The child is doing well and is in the custody of Kinsman's mother, attorneys for both defendants said.

Judge Dartt told Kinsman before court deputies led her away that she'd consider early release. Kinsman's attorney, Martin McMannus, said she would be eligible after 30 days, and he would file for release at the appropriate time.

Contact Erica Blake at:

eblake@theblade.com

or 419-213-2134.