Charges were laid after two-month-old brutally injured
A Kirkland man has been found not guilty of aggravated assault on a two-month-old infant following his week-long trial in Fredericton Provincial Court.
Hilton Romeo Fredericks, 26, was charged by Fredericton City Police after a male newborn was taken to hospital and then transferred to the Issak Walton Killam Hospital (IWK) in Halifax with life-threatening injuries. The infant remained in the care of the IWK for three months.
Police arrested Fredericks after receiving a report of child abuse at a Fredericton apartment between March 19 -21, 2023. His trial was held in March, and medical experts were called to testify during the proceedings.
Judge Lyne Raymond reserved her decision after the trial and then rendered her not-guilty verdict on April 9. Fredericks had been in custody at provincial jail since May 2024.
During the trial, Crown Prosecutor Cathleen Trafton told the court Fredericks was “frustrated and angry” with the baby for waking him up at 2 a.m. She said the accused was alone in a bedroom with the victim when he “intentionally inflicted injuries” on the child by shaking him and tossing him in the air. There was no eye witness to his alleged act.
Trafton said Fredericks yelled and told the baby to “shut up, you (expletive) retard.” He also allegedly threatened to put the child outside in a snow bank before plunking him in a baby swing in the next room. By then, the child’s neck could be heard making cracking sounds.
Doctors testified the infant’s injuries were so serious they could not have been caused by an accident. The child suffered an internal brain hemorrhage and bruises to his face, forehead and jaw. Blood vessels in his eyes burst, and there was bleeding inside his eyes, signalling head trauma.
The baby also had rib fractures, a spinal fracture and a spinal cord injury that required surgery. The infant also sustained a permanent injury to his right arm from torn nerves in his shoulder.
After the assault, the child’s mother discovered the baby in distress and crying. She noticed he had bruises and a limp right arm and was making gasping sounds. He didn’t want to be fed. Since the ordeal, he continues to use a feeding tube.
Trafton said Fredericks was the last to agree the infant needed to go to hospital. Further crown evidence suggested he later confided in a friend that he might have broken the child’s neck. The defence argued this was not a confession since Fredericks was only “speculating” about how the child may have been injured.
Other witnesses for the crown included the child’s mother and another woman who was staying at the apartment at the time. The woman described hearing Fredericks yelling in anger and then listening to the child screaming in the bedroom where Fredericks was alone with him. The mother testified she was in the bathroom when the incident occurred but believed Fredericks was responsible.
Defence Counsel Heather Daigle argued the crown witnesses were not reliable as any of the three individuals in the apartment could have been responsible for the infant’s injuries. All three were suspects when the investigation began, she said, and there was no eye witness to the alleged assault in the bedroom.
Daigle contended no one on the premises was equipped to provide child care, explaining how the newborn was bounced up and down and burped vigorously. Any harm caused to the child was not deliberate, Daigle said, although she admitted the situation was tragic.
On February 26, Fredericks was sentenced to 90 days in jail or time served when appeared in provincial court in custody by video on other charges related to a domestic assault in Woodstock.
He pleaded guilty to assaulting a female victim between January 14 and January 22, 2024, in Woodstock. The crown withdrew a second assault charge. He had no prior criminal record before the 90-day sentence was imposed. The court heard he struggles with severe mental health issues and addiction. At the time of his arrest, Fredericks was detained by Woodstock Police under the Mental Health Act.
