Steven Waterman pleaded not guilty Monday in Cumberland County Superior Court to two charges of aggravated assault and one charge of assault on a minor.
Waterman is accused of the crimes in connection with the May 17 injuries to 5-month-old Camren Baker, son of Jaime Swan, who lived in Westbrook and was Waterman’s girlfriend at the time. The charges carry a maximum total sentence of 25 years.
Waterman, 20, appeared in court with a newly grown goatee. “Not guilty, your honor,” he said, when asked to enter a plea.
Waterman remains in Cumberland County Jail. His lawyer, Howard O’Brien, of the Portland firm Strike, Goodwin and O’Brien, attempted to reduce Waterman’s bail, but the court rejected the request. His bail was originally set at $10,000 cash when he was arrested the night of the incident, and later reduced to $2,000 cash at a bail review hearing in July.
O’Brien told the judge Waterman could not afford the $2,000, and that a $1,000 cash bail with a pretrial contract would provide enough security. A private, nonprofit corporation, Maine Pretrial Services, works with indigent defendants to provide an alternative to cash bail. The corporation works with several counties in Maine to provide the service, and evaluates whether a contract with a defendant would be appropriate for the case.
The state, however, contended that the charges against Waterman were “very serious,” and Waterman also had a history of juvenile charges, including an Aug. 28, 2006, failure to appear on a juvenile charge. The court sided with the state.
Despite the court’s rejection of O’Brien’s request, O’Brien said Tuesday that Waterman expects to make bail. If Waterman makes bail, his next court hearing will be on Sept. 7 at 8:30 a.m. in Superior Court.
Waterman has already spent more than 2 1/2 months in jail on the three charges.
“We’re going to defend the case vigorously,” O’Brien said on Tuesday. “We’re planning for trial.”
The district attorney’s files on the case were passed on to O’Brien at Monday’s arraignment, and O’Brien said he has provided copies of the material to Waterman for review. He expects to meet with Waterman to discuss the case some time this week.
An affidavit submitted to the court by Westbrook Detective John Desjardins said Waterman, who was 19 at the time of the incident, admitted in a videotaped police interview at the Westbrook police headquarters that he became frustrated when the 5-month-old Camren Baker was crying as Waterman tried to sleep. Waterman then “violently shook Camren ‘about four times’ and then ‘slammed him’ multiple times on the bed,” according to the affidavit.
Police say the incident happened at Swan’s apartment on Main Street in Westbrook on the afternoon of May 17, while Waterman was babysitting for Swan as she attended classes at Andover College. When Swan returned to the home, Waterman left the apartment, telling Swan only that the baby was asleep, according to Swan’s story in the affidavit.
The baby was in the hospital for several days with bruises on the brain, hemorrhaging behind the eyes and multiple bone fractures. There was also evidence of bruises on the brain and bone fractures that occurred before the May 17 incident, authorities said, but no charges were brought forward, nor was there any ruling that the prior injuries were abuse.
Three weeks after May 17, Camren Baker returned to the hospital for a routine checkup, but was admitted to the emergency room for swelling of the brain. The baby underwent surgery a week later, and doctors inserted a shunt to drain fluid from the baby’s skull into his stomach.
The Department of Health and Human Services was assigned to the case, and the baby remains in Swan’s custody.
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