Father gets 11 years for causing son's permanent brain damage

By JUSTIN DENNIS

jdennis@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A tattoo reading “Boy” across Eric J. Pendland’s hand should serve as a permanent reminder of the childhood his son won’t have, said Mahoning County Judge Anthony Donofrio.

Judge Donofrio on Tuesday handed Pendland, 37, of Youngstown, the maximum, 11-year prison sentence for violently shaking his infant son, Eric Pendland Jr., and leaving the boy disabled due to brain damage.

Eric Jr., who was 3 months old at the time of the March 1, 2017, attack, is now partially blind and deaf and is expected to forever require a wheelchair and a feeding tube, said Jennifer McLaughlin, assistant county prosecutor.

“This victim will not be able to have the life he should have had,” she told the court.

Jurors during his June trial quickly found Pendland guilty on two felony counts of child endangering – one second-degree count for abusing the boy and a third-degree count for failing to seek prompt medical attention for him.

Pendland hung and shook his head while listening to his sentence, then burst with profanities – the first emotions he showed since heading to trial.

“I never hurt my child!” he also bellowed, as sheriff’s deputies dragged him from the courtroom.

Earlier, McLaughlin had argued against a sentence that merged Pendland’s two felony counts of child endangering and said Pendland’s lengthy criminal history – which started in 1997 when he was a juvenile and continued to misdemeanor theft and trespassing charged after his August 2017 indictment in the child abuse case – suggests he will almost certainly re-offend.

She argued – and Judge Donofrio agreed – Pendland didn’t show remorse during his trial up to the guilty verdict, when Pendland could be seen chewing gum.

“There is no number of years available in this case that would adequately punish the defendant,” McLaughlin said. “The harm is so great and unusual that no single prison term could reflect the seriousness.”

Eric Jr.’s adoptive mother, Sharon Lawson, told Judge Donofrio she and her husband have been caring for Eric Jr. since May 2017. She said though they have also cared for children struggling with drug withdrawal or who have been poisoned or traumatized, “nothing prepared us for caring for a child with brain trauma.”

“Nothing prepared us for the screaming – hours and hours of screaming. … Twelve to 18 hours per day [for the first year], screaming in pain,” she told the court. “When I saw the 3-D images of his brain I sobbed in disbelief, not prepared for what I would see: Blackness. Holes and holes of blackness where brain tissue should be.

“When considering sentencing, please consider that my son Eric has received a sentence for the rest of his life.”

Pendland himself addressed the court: “I’ve been falsely accused and wrongfully convicted. … I can’t be remorseful for something I did not do. I love my children. I would never harm a hair on their head.”

Lawson showed Donofrio photos of Eric Jr. during and after his adoption, which showed the extent of his disabilities.

“All I could remember when I saw this child’s picture before this injury occurred is, ‘What a beautiful child this is,’” Judge Donofrio later told Pendland. “Not only did I not see any remorse from the defendant – and in his comments to the court – he hasn’t shown any emotion at all and that’s unusual to me.

“I think in the past, the defendant has shown no regard for the law … despite frequent punishment that’s been handed for his conduct.”

Donofrio ultimately denied merging Pendland’s two counts. Pendland must also remain on probation for three years following his release from prison.

When court recessed, Lawson received hugs from others who attended the hearing and talked about Eric Jr., whom McLaughlin said was, at first, expected to die from his injuries.

“He’s an incredible little boy,” Lawson told them.