Minnesota man sentenced to 15 years for shaking baby

GRAND FORKS, N.D. - A Windom, Minn., man was ordered Monday to serve 15 years in prison for shaking his 3-month-old son and causing him a serious head injury.

Robert Allen Duckstad, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse, a Class A felony, in state district court in Grand Forks.

According to the criminal complaint, Duckstad had just worked the overnight shift and was “tired, frustrated and stressed” when he returned home one morning in June 2013.

His son was being “fussy” while he was changing his diaper, so Duckstad shook the infant three times until he was quiet, the complaint says.

The boy’s mother later noted the baby did not respond to his name and looked “pale,” according to the complaint.

The complaint says Altru Hospital in Grand Forks diagnosed the infant with acute subdural hematoma, which involves a collection of blood on the surface of the brain and is among the deadliest of all head injuries, according to the National Institutes of Health. The boy was transported to the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis for treatment, the complaint says.

Criminal charges were filed against Duckstad in February.