Ricardo Robledo-Espino Accused Of Breaking Baby's Legs: Sentenced To Seven And A Half Years

An suburban Chicago man was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for breaking an infant's legs in 2010.

Ricardo Robledo-Espino, 29, was convicted of two counts of aggravated battery to a child, each a Class X felony, for an incident on April 3, 2010 involving the 6-week-old child of his girlfriend, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Prosecutors said that the infant was crying, so Robledo-Espino placed her on her back on a bed, grabbed her legs by the calf and pulled her forcefully toward him. Robled-Espino told police that he knew he had hurt her when she cried at a higher pitch than normal, but he did not immediately tell his girlfriend about the incident.

After noticing swelling in the child's left calf, the infant's mother took her to a pediatrician on April 8, who recommended an X-ray, according to the Associated Press. The X-ray showed that the infant's legs were broken by significant force consistent with child abuse.

Robledo-Espino sought leniency in a statement, saying he considered the child his own, although he is not the girl's biological father, TribLocal reports. He began dating the child's mother in the fall of 2009, while she was pregnant.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I intend to harm my baby in any way,” he told the judge, according to TribLocal.

State law compels Robledo-Espino to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence and register on the Child Murder and Violent Youth Offender Registry, the Sun-Times reports.

“We are committed to protecting and giving a voice to our most vulnerable citizens,” State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said, according to the Sun-Times. “Under no circumstances is it acceptable to knowingly inflict injury on a helpless infant. Our thanks to Elgin police Detectives Mark Whaley and Dave Baumgartner for their perseverance and thorough investigation in this case, as well as Kane County Assistant State’s Attorneys Debra Bree and Lori Schmidt, who prosecuted the case.”