The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said it bought a $60,000 camera that will provide evidence for prosecuting suspected child abusers.
The Ret Cam 120 which is made by Massie Research Laboratories of Dublin, Calif., helps doctors to diagnose bleeding tissue behind the retina, the primary indicator that a child has suffered head trauma.
In San Diego County, about 30 physical abuse cases resulting from vigorous shaking of a baby are prosecuted each year, said Eugenia Eyherabide, division chief of the Family Protection unit at the District Attorney’s office.
“This (Ret Cam 120) will tremendously help us to prosecute these cases not only (will it help) the jury, but (also) the defendants and the defense,” Eyherabide said.
So far, prosecutors relied on hand-drawn sketches to present such cases, she said.
“Putting up a piece of white paper and drawing the moon and dots makes it very hard for the jury to conceptualize what bilateral hemorrhage looks like,” she said.
“When you see this picture you are convinced that eyes are not supposed to look like this,” she explained.
Dr. Cynthia Kuelbs, medical director of the Center for Child Protection at Children’s Hospital and Health Center in Kearny Mesa, agreed the camera will be an asset in court.
But she also sees the camera as a pivotal tool in helping doctors diagnose accidental cases vs. physical abuse and identify physical abuse cases earlier.
“Thirty percent of abuse head trauma are missed,” Kuelbs explained.
That is because many babies come into the hospital with vague symptoms, such as the flu, meningitis or vomiting, she said.
Eyherabide believes many caregivers don’t think about the consequences of shaking a baby.
“I think a lot of people do this to make the baby stop crying, teach the baby something, are much more violent than they intend to be or if they lose it (or) have a crying or difficult baby.”
But convicted felons will pay the price.
Perpetrators face up to 25 years to life in prison for baby homicide; and up to 12 years in jail if the baby survives, she said.
Those babies that do survive often suffer serious health problems, such as seizures, spasms, and living with tubes in their throats and stomachs. Others end up in a vegetative state, lose their eyesight, or suffer brain damage, Kuelbs said.
Kuelbs said one of her former patients , a recent high school graduate , has a brilliant mind, but has lost one of the most precious senses , her eyesight.
