YOUNGSTOWN Couple face charges in injuries to infant

The couple could go to prison for up to eight years apiece if found guilty.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Mahoning Avenue couple are facing criminal charges over injuries suffered by their infant son.
Julie L. Exline, 25, and Peter J. Serbin, 44, were indicted this week by a Mahoning County grand jury on endangering-children charges. If they are convicted of the second-degree felony, they could be sentenced to two to eight years apiece in prison.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Krueger said the baby, who was 4 months old and weighed 11 pounds at the time, suffered injuries including retinal hemorrhaging, blood on his brain and a fractured skull.
"All the classic symptoms of shaken baby syndrome," Krueger said.
She said the baby's grandmother noticed the injuries and insisted that he be taken for medical treatment. The boy, whose name is Joseph Serbin, was eventually taken to Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.
In foster care
The injuries happened sometime in April or early May, Krueger said. The baby has been placed in foster care while the charges are pending.
"He gained 6 pounds the first week he was in foster care," Krueger said.
She said Exline and Serbin have denied hurting the child, but have offered conflicting stories of how he was injured. They said that he rolled off a bed and hit his head on the floor and that the child's head hit a table while Serbin was running with him.
Krueger said the couple also told authorities that another woman is responsible for the injuries.
The couple will be arraigned in two weeks in common pleas court.
bjackson@vindy.com