Santa Rosa mother, 20, sentenced to six years in prison for baby abuse

A young Santa Rosa mother was sentenced to six years in state prison for abusing her 11-week-old baby who is still recovering more than a year after suffering injuries and fractures throughout his body, Sonoma County District Attorney Officials said Tuesday.

Monserrat Salgado, 20, pleaded guilty to three counts of felony inflicting injury on a child, with enhancements for personally causing great bodily injury to a child, Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said. Judge Patrick Broderick sentenced Salgado Monday.

The investigation began in September 2015 when Salgado brought her son to Kaiser Permanente hospital in Santa Rosa. Doctors found a variety of troubling and suspicious injuries.

The baby boy had a spiral fracture to one of his arms of the kind typically “caused by violent yanking and twisting” as well as brain injuries caused by a lack of oxygen, Ravitch said.

The child was airlifted to Children’s Hospital Oakland where doctors found additional injuries.

Both of the baby’s legs had metaphyseal fractures “caused by violent yanking or pulling, and are a type of fracture often seen in babies who have been shaken,” Ravitch said in a news release.

An Oakland doctor told investigators the baby suffered a brain injury and could have died if treatment had been delayed, Ravitch said.

Salgado was 19 years old when she was arrested Sept. 9.

The case received international attention from Spanish-language media and, in the weeks after her arrest, Salgado’s family defended her and said the injuries were caused by an accident.

Salgado pleaded guilty about one month before the case headed to trial.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 707-521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.