A Montgomery County man who severely beat his infant son was sentenced to decades in state prison

A Bridgeport man was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in state prison for injuring his 8-week-old son in what a Montgomery County judge described as “horrific” abuse.

Daniel Rohloff, 35, was convicted in May of attempted murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and related crimes after a two-day bench trial.

Montgomery County Court Judge Thomas P. Rogers, in handing down Rohloff’s sentence Wednesday, called him a danger to the community given the serious injuries he inflicted on the baby in July 2021. The boy, prosecutors said in court filings, was debilitated by the abuse, and will require medical treatment for the rest of his life.

Rohloff’s attorney, Francis Genovese, did not immediately return a request for comment.

» READ MORE: Montgomery County man is charged with attempted murder in the beating of his 2-month-old son

During Rohloff’s trial, Genovese said the case built by prosecutors was largely circumstantial and failed to prove that he had a specific intent to kill his son.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Rohloff vehemently denied abusing his son and said the boy “brought joy” to him and his fiancée.

But prosecutors noted that when the couple took their baby to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, doctors found that he had damage to multiple organ systems, along with rib fractures and lacerations to his liver. Hospital staff told investigators the injuries were likely the result of someone shaking, squeezing, and hitting the child.

Perhaps the most damning evidence against Rohloff came from a surveillance video played during the trial in which he is seen carrying his child into a bedroom before covering the camera with a cloth. Immediately afterward, the baby lets out a shrill scream, a revelation that caused several people to leave the courtroom in distress.

Rohloff, an admitted methamphetamine user, testified that he covered the camera because he was searching for narcotics.

Even before the child sustained serious injuries, there was a documented pattern of issues with Rohloff, prosecutors said. He was kicked out of the delivery room as his fiancée was giving birth due to his erratic behavior.

Officials from the county’s Office of Children and Youth created a safety plan for the family that barred Rohloff from being alone with his son. But prosecutors presented evidence that he was frequently the baby’s sole caretaker.

Rohloff’s mother, Michelle, later pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child for failing to act as the baby’s caretaker, as the safety plan mandated. She was sentenced to probation.

Hours before the couple brought their son to CHOP, they had an argument, after which the child’s mother confided in friends that she wanted to get a protection-from-abuse order against Rohloff, according to evidence presented at trial.