DEA Agent Acquitted of Child Abuse Charge
A Drug Enforcement Administration agent was acquitted Thursday of a child abuse charge by a judge who found “reasonable doubt” surrounding the circumstances of the youngster’s brain injury.
The agent, Tony Bailey, walked out of the courtroom with the child’s mother after Orange County Superior Court Judge Dennis Choate issued the ruling.
Bailey had been free on $75,000 bail and on administrative leave while the charge was pending, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle Clesceri said.
The prosecutor contended that the child, who is 17 months old but who has the development of a 6-week-old, was the victim of violent shaking that caused bleeding and the brain injury.
The child was taken to Children’s Hospital of Orange County on Aug. 5, 1997, after being in the care of Bailey while his girlfriend was at work, Clesceri said.
Defense attorney Malcolm Guleserian could not be reached for immediate comment.
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