Fairchance man not guilty of injuring baby
A Fairchance man accused of injuring a 2-month-old baby in 2010 was found not guilty of all charges by a Fayette County jury on Friday.
William Cody Nicklow, 21, was charged on Jan. 26, 2012, with simple assault and endangering the welfare of children. On Aug. 8, 2012, he pleaded guilty to the endangerment charge, but later withdrew the plea in order to go before a jury.
In the criminal complaint, police said Nicklow was helping raise his girlfriend’s infant son in 2010 at residences in Fairchance and Nicholson Township. Police alleged that Nicklow placed the baby next to a space heater to keep the infant warm one night, and the following morning found the baby had a burn on his hand.
Police said that the couple did not seek medical treatment for the burn but did take the infant to Uniontown Hospital in the following weeks because they feared he was suffering leg pain.
Doctors found multiple fractures to his lower extremities, police said, and the baby was then taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh for additional care. Fayette County Children and Youth Services, along with state police, were brought in to investigate.
Nicklow told investigators that he remembered hearing a popping sound when he uncrossed the baby’s legs but denied mistreating the child.
Assistant Public Defender Mary Campbell Spegar represented Nickow, and Assistant District Attorney Anthony S. Iannamorelli Jr. prosecuted the case before Senior Judge Ralph C. Warman.