Weak Allegations of Shaken Baby Syndrome Keep Tearing Families Apart
An Ohio father is facing 12 years in prison after he was accused of shaking his 2-month-old son. According to a new investigation from ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, there’s ample evidence suggesting that the child’s medical collapse could have been caused by complications from a traumatic birth. Even so, two child abuse pediatricians—members of a young and controversial medical subspeciality—say that the only reasonable explanation is abuse.
In 2023, Nick Flannery was caring for his sons while his wife Felecia was at a doctor’s appointment. According to ProPublica reporter Pamela Colloff, Flannery’s 2-month-old, identified in the story as “Arlo,” suddenly went limp and stopped breathing. Nick called 911, and paramedics soon revived Arlo. At the hospital, a CT scan detected subdural hematoma, or a collection of blood between the brain and the skull—one of the symptoms typically associated with “shaken baby syndrome” (SBS), now often called abusive head trauma.
Flannery was soon accused of abusing Arlo—who has since completely recovered—even though there were no other signs he had been abused. “He had no bruises, scratches or cuts. No external evidence of head trauma, like a scalp injury or a skull fracture,” Colloff writes. “No broken bones. No symptoms of neglect or malnutrition. Nick and Felecia were his sole caregivers, and neither of them had any prior interaction with child protective services or a criminal history.”
Further, Arlo’s medical history provides a plausible explanation for his subdural hematoma. Arlo’s birth was traumatic, “More than 24 hours of labor—augmented with Pitocin, to make contractions stronger—had left a deep
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