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.
