AUGUSTA — Kevin M. Peaslee will spend the next seven years behind bars for shaking his infant daughter so violently she is disabled for life.
Justice Carl O. Bradford imposed the sentence Friday in Kennebec County Superior Court.
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Peaslee, 22, of Windsor pleaded guilty Oct. 9 to the aggravated assault of Aleah M. Peaslee on Dec. 21, 2013, when she was 6 months old.
“It was a horrible mistake that I can’t change no matter how much I wish I could,” said Peaslee, who told the judge he couldn’t explain why he shook his daughter. “I’m not a violent person.
“I was frustrated that day. She just had shots the day before, and they always make her extra fussy.”
Peaslee said that after Aleah’s birth he did not pay much attention to a video the hospital showed to new parents warning against the dangers of shaking a baby.
Aleah’s case made national headlines this year because her injuries were so severe that the state sought a do-not-resuscitate order. Aleah’s mother, Virginia Trask, at first signed the order before changing her mind and opposing the state’s effort. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court later dismissed Trask’s appeal of the do-not-resuscitate order because the administration of Gov. Paul LePage said it would not enforce the order.
In court Friday, Peaslee said that if he could talk to his daughter, he would tell her she was perfect.
“Nothing will change how I feel about her and I want her to know how terribly sorry I am and I hope that one day she will forgive her father,” he said.
The judge said he was siding with the state in terms of the seven-year initial incarceration.
Bradford talked about the baby’s injuries, saying, “Aleah has lost her vision and her hearing, and lost control over the use of her limbs apparently because her brain cannot communicate with her organs.”
He said the girl is “a spastic quadriplegic” subject to seizures controlled with medication.
Bradford read aloud parts of a letter from Aleah’s caregiver, who the judge said would remain anonymous. “Aleah’s life was changed forever,” the caregiver wrote. “Another person’s choice has given her a life sentence.”
Bradford granted a 48-hour stay of the sentence, and Peaslee is to report to the Kennebec County jail Monday morning. He has been free on bail since January.
Under terms of the sentencing agreement, Peaslee was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with the last three years suspended and three years probation. The initial agreement called for 12 years probation, but that was changed because three years is the maximum probation available for the offense, according to District Attorney Maeghan Maloney.
“I appreciate the court carefully listening to everything the parties had to say and coming to a fair result that brings as much justice as possible in a case as tragic as this,” Maloney said afterward.
Aleah’s mother joined Peaslee’s parents in asking the judge to impose a shorter period of initial incarceration. Trask read a statement saying she loves and supports Peaslee.
Trask’s description of her daughter contrasted sharply with that presented by the state. “I’ve watched Aleah grow and change over the past 17 months,” Trask said. “Aleah is doing really well. She smiles, laughs, kicks her legs, even says ‘Hi’ back.”
Trask recounted the scene in the hospital when Aleah was removed from the ventilator that was helping her breathe. Trask said she and Peaslee signed the do-not-resuscitate order and then rescinded it as the baby began to recover.
“Every day Aleah’s here is a miracle, and we cherish that,” Trask said. “This is a family tragedy that happened to us. I love Aleah and at the same time I love Kevin.”
Trask said Peaslee is “trying to live with himself through all of this. He’s really turned his life around.”
She said Peaslee acted “out of frustration, not hate or anger. He panicked, just as many other people have done. He did it because he didn’t know what else to do.”
She said he hates himself as a result.
Peaslee’s attorney, James Lawley, had recommended an initial three years behind bars and asked that Peaslee serve it at Mountain View Youth Development Center in Charleston. At Friday’s hearing, Lawley played a brief excerpt from a taped interview of Peaslee responding to a question about what happened.
“I shook her because I was just so pissed off ’cause she was soaked,” Peaslee said on the recording. His voice breaks, and he appears to be sobbing as he talks of a coma and seizure and his efforts to do CPR. After that, he says, “I took her in my arms and I drove and I got pulled over,” adding, “I did shake her and that’s what made her have the seizure.”
“This was a young man who just could not cope,” Lawley said.
Lawley said Peaslee was abused as a child, had undiagnosed developmental disabilities, an IQ of between 68 and 71, and difficulty finding an outlet for his frustration.
After the hearing, Lawley said the sentence would be appealed.
“A seven-year sentence will not make Aleah better,” Lawley said, “but it will do more harm to Kevin and a family who have already been torn apart.”
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