Jefferson City man sentenced to prison for child abuse

A Jefferson City man has been sentenced to three years in prison for pleading guilty to a charge of abuse of a child for an incident that occurred in December 2014.

Derick Welsch, 29, of 709 E. High St., had been charged with endangering the welfare of a child, but that charge was dismissed.

A Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement shows the 12-week-old victim suffered a broken left clavicle at a residence on Elizabeth Street.

Welsch told investigators the injury occurred when another child had fallen on top of the victim.

Medical staff at Capital Region Medical Center said with the type of break the victim suffered, it was unlikely that Welsch's story was true.

A witness had initially backed up Welsch's story, but later recanted saying she and Welsch orchestrated the story to prevent the Missouri Division of Family Services from investigating them.

The witness later said she saw Welsch punch the child in the left arm and the victim lost the use of his arm for a short period of time.

The witness also said the victim has a serious medical condition called Tetralogy of the Fallot, which he was to receive open heart surgery for in January.

Welsch had been on probation for domestic assault and resisting arrest at the time he was picked up on this charge.