Sitter Sentenced to Prison in Death of Infant

During an emotional hearing, baby sitter Vickie Maas was sentenced Monday to eight years and eight months in prison for involuntary manslaughter in the death of a 6-month-old baby and the abuse of two other infants.

Maas, 28, who had been calm and expressionless through most of the five-week trial, buried her face in her hands and cried as San Fernando Superior Court Judge Howard J. Schwab announced the sentence, the maximum for that crime.

“In all my years as a judge this is the most aggravated case of amorality that I have ever seen,” Schwab said. “This case will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

A San Fernando Superior Court jury found Maas guilty Dec. 16 of killing David Allen Duncan, aged 6 months. David died Jan. 8, 1988, of brain injuries two days after Maas had shaken him violently because he was crying.

3 Counts of Abuse

Maas was also found guilty of three counts of felony child abuse. One count was related to David’s death and the others to injuries received by 6-month-old Travis Hoyt, whose ear was bruised in August, 1987, and 7-month-old Nicholas McNerny, who suffered a broken leg in June, 1987.

The families of the three infants attended the sentencing. They wore buttons with David Duncan’s picture. Some broke into applause and embraced, while others wept tears of joy after Schwab handed down the sentence.

“This is my birthday and this was the best present ever,” said Karen Duncan, David’s mother.

“I feel that the judge really did the right thing by us and by society” said Larry Duncan, David’s father. “We can’t bring David back, but it does relieve some of the pain.”

Maas’ in-laws said the sentence was unnecessarily harsh. “I don’t think the maximum was correct at all,” said Ronald Maas, Vickie Maas’ father-in-law. “Two wrongs don’t make a right.

During sentencing, Larry H. Layton, Maas’ attorney, called psychiatrist Hugh Wilson Ridlehuber to testify about a neuropsychiatric impairment from which he said Maas suffered.

Ridlehuber, who began treating Maas in March, concluded that she had a rare neuropsychiatric ailment known as “intermittent explosive disorder.” He said the condition, caused by brain damage, led to periodic bouts of violent behavior, similar to seizures.

“With stress, with particular types of stress, she can explode and react violently,” Ridlehuber said. He said loud noises often triggered the reactions, noises such as a telephone ringing repeatedly and the sound of babies crying.

He said that after the explosive episodes, Maas could not remember details of the incidents.

Ridlehuber also said that Maas had used marijuana and cocaine in an effort to “self-medicate” her psychiatric condition.

“Her use of these drugs was an attempt to treat herself,” Ridlehuber said. A titter ran through the crowd of about 45 in the courtroom.

Schwab expressed doubts about the psychiatrist’s assessment, saying specific details in Maas’ testimony about the shaking of David and the injuries of the two other infants indicated she was lying.

“Her statements were inconsistent with physical evidence,” Schwab said. Maas testified that she shook David “gently.”