July 29, 2015- Commonwealth v Starlee Dennis:  Charges against a Harrisburg man, Starlee Dennis, 39, were sent to the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas by Magisterial District Judge Marsha Stewart after a preliminary hearing this morning.  Dennis is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.  The charges stem from an incident on January 2, 2015, when a 6 month old infant in his care was rushed to the Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital in critical condition.  The hospital notified authorities after discovering that the infant had suffered 10 rib fractures, bleeding on the brain, blood in his spinal cord, swelling to the ligaments of his neck and extensive retinal hemorrhaging and evidence of blunt force trauma to the baby's abdomen.  Medical personnel indicated to investigating authorities that many of the injuries were acute, that it there occurred close in time to his admission to the hospital.  When a Harrisburg police detective and caseworkers from Dauphin County Children 7 Youth interviewed Dennis, he confirmed that he was the sole caretaker of the infant on the morning of January 2, 2015.  The infant's mother was at work at the time of the incident. 

Formal arraignment in this matter is scheduled for October 1, 2015.  This case was investigated by Detective Libertad Ramos from the Harrisburg Police Department.  Chief Deputy District Attorney Sean McCormack is assigned to prosecute the case for the Commonwealth.