A court in Odesa is hearing a case against a 27-year-old man who has been accused of consistently abusing his children – a two-month-old daughter and a two-year-old son.
On one occasion, he inflicted injuries of varying severity on them. He now faces possible imprisonment for his actions.
This was reported by the Main Department of the National Police in the Odesa region.
According to law enforcement, the incident occurred in October 2024. They found that over the course of two months, the father hit his daughter each time she cried, attempting to "calm" her in this manner.
When the child's condition worsened, her 24-year-old mother called for an ambulance. The woman stated that she "was afraid to intervene with her husband".
The girl was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Odesa Regional Children's Clinical Hospital with head and body injuries.
"This couple had not previously come to the attention of the police or child protection services. Besides their daughter, they have a two-year-old son, whom, according to preliminary data, the father also abused. The boy is undergoing examination, and he is preliminarily diagnosed with a closed femur fracture," reported the Odesa police at that time.
A forensic medical examination determined that the children had sustained injuries of varying severity. In particular, the boy was diagnosed with a closed fracture of the femur, abrasions, and bruises, while his sister suffered multiple bruises, closed rib fractures, lung contusions, and brain injuries, leading to swelling and coma.
The children were removed from the family and are currently placed in a state children's institution.
The 27-year-old man from Odesa has been charged under part 1 of Article 121 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (intentional infliction of serious bodily harm to a child).
Investigators have also initiated another proceeding under part 1 of Article 122 of the Criminal Code for inflicting medium severity bodily harm to the boy.
The suspect has been remanded in custody without the right to bail.
The indictment against the man has been sent to court. He remains in custody. For his actions, he faces up to eight years in prison.
Additionally, law enforcement has allocated separate proceedings regarding the mother under Article 166 of the Criminal Code (malicious failure to fulfill parental duties). The penalty for this article includes imprisonment of up to five years.
Earlier, we reported on a case in Prykarpattia where a woman was tried for throwing her newborn child into a well.