Jason Midyette

Jason Midyette

On February 24, 2006, Molly Midyette (right) called her pediatrician, saying her 10-month-old, Jason (center), was "out of sorts." Three hours later, the doctor examined Jason and insisted on admitting him immediately to a nearby emergency room. On seeing Jason's condition Elaine Rottinghaus, the emergency room nurse, called 911 to report the incident as one of the worst child abuse cases she'd ever seen. When Molly arrived at the hospital with her husband Alex Midyette (left), the son of a prominent Boulder, Colo., businessman, they had already retained a lawyer, who met them at the hospital, and both refused to talk to police. Jason was removed from life support on March 3, 2006, and died. The autopsy revealed that Jason's brain had been bleeding and that he had 37 fractures to his skull and body in various stages of healing. Coroner Tom Faure ruled that the baby had died of "blunt force craniocerebreal injuries." In 2007 a grand jury indicted both parents in Jason's death. Molly insisted she was unaware of any abuse, but on December 12, 2007, she was sentenced to 16 years in prison for criminal neglect in failing to seek help for her injured child. She asked for a new trial saying she had been bullied by her husband and his family, but her request was denied. Alex Midyette, who admitted to accidentally hitting his boy's head on a chair and table, was convicted on February 17, 2009, of criminally negligent child abuse resulting in death.