Kevin Murphy, Leader Correspondent
A rural Keshena woman was sentenced Monday in federal court to four years in prison plus three years of supervised release for fracturing her 19-month-old son’s skull on Sept. 30 and neglecting to get him medical help for nearly six days.
Loni M. Tepiew, 28, admitted in court documents to hitting her infant son with a shoe and punching him.
“I had one bad night when I drank too much and took it out on my baby. … There is much worse moms out there than me,” Tepiew told a FBI agent, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Humble.
In imposing his sentence, District Judge William Griesbach classified the crime as a “brutal beating” that “cried out for justice,” according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office.
In a memo to the court, Humble said it took the combined efforts of tribal police, social workers and Tepiew’s daughter to discover the crime.
Authorities did not learn of the infant’s injuries until Menominee Tribal Police kicked in the door of Tepiew’s trailer for Child Protective Service workers, who were investigating Tepiew’s 7-year-old-daughter’s statement that her mother had a black eye from being beaten.
“For the better part of six days, the victim lay suffering from the pain of his skull fracture and healing tibial fracture,” Humble wrote Griesbach. “He was helpless, incapable of letting the world know of his need for immediate medical attention, incapable even of wiping the dried blood from his face. For well over 130 hours, the one person who could have and should have sought medical treatment on his behalf did nothing.”
Tepiew’s three children have been in protective custody with Menominee County Human Services since October, according to court documents.
Tepiew pleaded guilty to assault of a minor causing serious bodily injury.
Tepiew’s attorney, Thomas Phillip, asked that she be placed on probation, saying that Tepiew had blacked out from alcohol use before noticing the infant’s injuries and did not have a working car or telephone to seek help.
Tepiew has maintained contact with her children, has worked steadily before and during the case, and wants to support herself and her family, Phillip wrote.
Phillip said that putting Tepiew on probation would allow her to continue to seek treatment for alcohol abuse and hold open the possibility of reuniting with her children.
“But other than retribution, what other purpose would prison serve?” he asked. “It would halt any progress that Tepiew has made and is making. It would certainly delay any reunification of Tepiew and her children, and it could possibly even prevent reunification from ever happening.”
Tepiew faced a maximum 10-year sentence. Humble sought four years.
“A lesser sentence, and especially one of probation, would fail to promote respect for the law and would send the message to Ms. Tepiew and others in the community that the physical abuse of a child and subsequent failure to render medical aid is an excusable offense,” Humble wrote.