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THE mother of a baby who suffered multiple fractures at the hands of his father has said the impact of the offending has been utterly devastating.
The woman wrote in a victim impact statement that her partner had betrayed her trust in the most devastating way.
Jarrad Chittenden pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Tuesday to inflicting multiple fractures to his son’s arms, legs and ribs.
His former partner asked for her victim impact statement to be read to the court.
She wrote she would never accept any excuse about why her partner had hurt their son.
She said her son must have been terrified when he looked at his father and knew he was going to be hurt.
The mother said that was utterly heart-breaking, it broke her heart and soul and she felt helpless.
She said her son had become wary of some men and he would scream and she had to hold him while he was in complete fear.
"He buries himself into me with fear in his eyes,"she said.
The mother said her two older daughters woke up at night and needed constant reassurance. She said her family's lives had been turned upside down.
She was initially a police suspect, was arrested and interviewed, her three children were removed from her care and she thought she had lost them forever.
She said she cried herself to sleep more times than she could count, Chittenden had ruined her family and their lives had been changed forever.
On March 11 the 10-week-old baby boy was taken to the Warrnambool Base Hospital with a broken left upper arm.
An examination revealed fractures to arms, both legs and ribs.
Police arrested Chittenden, interviewed him on March 16 and he told officers his son may have suffered a broken arm when he was changing his clothing and his arm became caught.
A week later Chittenden returned to Warrnambool police station after telling his wife he caused the other injuries to his son.
He said some of the injuries may have been caused while changing his son’s nappy when he pulled his clothing roughly and his limbs were pulled back at awkward angles.
The boy’s multiple rib injuries were caused when Chittenden would hold his son in both hands and squeeze his chest hard for between 10 to 20 seconds in an attempt to get him to settle.