Fort Bragg Father Convicted for Shaking His Infant

A Fort Bragg man has been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for violently shaking his 6-month-old baby and inflicting abusive head trauma on the child according to a Fayetteville Observer report this morning.

Robert A. Carter Jr., 26, was sentenced to three years, four months in prison after a conviction of assault on a minor, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors say that Carter, the spouse of an active-duty soldier living on Fort Bragg, shook their baby some time between Aug. 3 and Aug. 9, 2010.

The child's mother was away at training at the time. She noticed the baby was "not acting right" and had a seizure upon her return home, prosecutors said. She took the baby to a hospital, where doctors learned the child was suffering from bleeding in the area between the brain and the thin tissues covering it, according to prosecutors.

The baby was flown to the neonatal intensive care unit at UNC Hospitals.

Carter was initially charged with three counts: assault causing serious bodily injury, assault on a minor and willful or grossly negligent omission of child supervision resulting in serious bodily injury, according to court records.

He reached a plea deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to assault on a minor, court records indicate.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge James Dever III sentenced Carter on Tuesday to three years of supervised release upon his discharge from federal prison.