WüRZBURG, Germany — A court-martial panel sentenced a 1st Infantry Division soldier to three years in prison in connection with an assault that left his infant son with permanent brain damage, a 1st ID official said.
Following a four-day trial, Spc. Anthony Ragains, 30, of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment in Schweinfurt, was convicted Thursday of maiming his then-6-week-old son. Maiming is a military legal term for an assault that leaves a victim seriously disfigured or with permanent disabilities, said Capt. Sean Condron, senior trial counsel for the 1st ID staff judge advocate’s office.
Condron said the attack occurred about 8:15 p.m. on Oct. 25, 2002, in a government apartment Ragains shared with his wife, Stacey, and their two children.
According to Condron, Ragains told investigators his wife was away when the baby woke from a nap crying and would not stop even after Ragains fed and diapered him. He angrily shook the baby several times.
In addition to the prison term, the panel ordered Ragains to forfeit all pay during his confinement, to be reduced to the lowest enlisted rank and to receive a bad-conduct discharge.
