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Sparta Man Sentenced After Newborn Found With 19 Broken Bones

Posted at 3:10 PM, Feb 04, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-04 15:12:39-05
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File photo

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — David Steiger was sentenced Tuesday to between three-and-a-half and 10 years behind bars for a first-degree child abuse charge after his newborn son was found with 19 broken bones last summer.

Steiger was arrested July 2, 2013 and according to MLive pleaded no contest to first-degree child abuse in January.

According to medical documents reviewed by investigators, Steiger said he may be responsible for the injuries but can’t remember because he blacked out.

He said his son fell off the couch while he was watching him, and he admitted to police that he pushed his son’s leg until he heard a “pop” sound.

That sound, according to police, was the baby’s femur and tibia breaking.  The remaining broken bones were discovered after the infant was taken to the hospital.

“I didn’t do it on purpose. It wasn’t intentional,” Steiger said in a jailhouse interview with FOX 17 in July.