YOUNGSTOWN Equal sentence in shaken-baby case

The judge told the parents they 'made a life' they 'weren't able to take care of.'
YOUNGSTOWN -- Two parents held equally responsible by a judge for shaking and injuring their child have been given equal sentences.
Judge Maureen Cronin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced both Cheryl Costanza, 35, and Antonio Fusco, 31, of Homewood Avenue, to four years in prison Tuesday on charges of child endangering.
Prosecutors had recommended that each parent serve a six-year sentence.
The boy, who will be 4 in January, functions at the level of an 8-month-old. The child, who was about 6 weeks old at the time of the shaking, is in the custody of a relative.
Judge Cronin said that when one parent learned of the injury, he or she should have contacted authorities.
The judge asked if there was any indication which parent shook the child.
Assistant prosecutor Dawn Krueger told the judge, "There's no hard evidence."
Fusco had a job, said Krueger, "So there's a feeling she was more culpable."
Judge's criticism
Judge Cronin told the couple, "You are both equally guilty," and criticized the couple for blaming each other.
"You two selfish people made a life you weren't able to take care of," the judge said, adding that the couple should have terminated their relationship.
The judge said she doesn't know what is wrong with society, saying, "It's like they are treating their children like animals. It's like they are eating their young."
Fusco was also sentenced to one year in prison for an unrelated burglary charge to be served consecutively to the child-endangering charge. He could have received up to 18 months on that charge.