Prosecutor: Woman knew Gideika unfit

SALEM – A judge ordered $10,000 cash bail for a Lynn woman facing charges of child endangerment and misleading police after a prosecutor said the woman ignored obvious evidence and lied to police in saying she had no concerns with leaving her infant in the care of a boyfriend accused of beating the child to death.”(The defendant) certainly was aware (the boyfriend, Anthony Gideika) was not a good caretaker, was aware of an obvious and serious injury to the child ? and told [police] a number of different lies,” Essex Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall said in Salem Superior Court Monday.Jennifer Nelson, 34, was indicted Friday by a grand jury on charges of permitting assault and battery on a child resulting in serious bodily injury; misleading a police officer; and wanton and reckless endangerment of a child.Nelson was arraigned in Salem Superior Court Monday where she pleaded not guilty to the charges. She appeared to be crying while waiting to be arraigned and while MacDougall recited details of the case presented during grand jury testimony.Police responded early July 8 to the Western Avenue apartment shared by Gideika and Nelson and found 3-month-old Chase Gideika bruised and not breathing.Doctors testified to the grand jury that the infant had “catastrophic head trauma” from “multiple episodes of violence” including being shaken violently and slammed within the previous 24 to 48 hours Gideika was caring for the child and his twin brother while Nelson attended a tattoo party, according to MacDougall.”One doctor opined this was one of the worst cases she had ever seen,” MacDougall said.She added that it took days before swelling in the child’s brain subsided and doctors ruled the cause of death as multiple blunt injuries.The other infant was unharmed and was taken by the Department of Children and Families.But Gideika told doctors and police he dropped the child several times and any injuries were unintentional, according to police. Meanwhile, MacDougall said Nelson “denied she had any concerns about Gideika,” and “was adamant she had never seen anything of concern,” when speaking with investigators.But MacDougall said Gideika told officers responding to the apartment that he had recently learned he was not the twins’ biological father. The news “set him off” and led him to abuse Klonopin, according to police. Witnesses concurred with this in grand jury testimony, MacDougall said.Nelson told police, however, Gideika was “not having a problem” after learning he was not the twins’ father, according to MacDougall, who called this “a direct contradiction to what everyone said.”Moreover, MacDougall said Nelson ignored friends’ repeated concerns that Gideika should not be left alone with the child.MacDougall also said witnesses told the grand jury Nelson returned from the first night of the tattoo party – the night before police were called to the apartment – and saw Chase’s testicles were “leaking,” MacDougall told the court. Friends allegedly urged Nelson to take the child to the pediatrician, but Nelson allegedly returned to the party the next day and said the child was fine.Finally, MacDougall noted Nelson had to be physically forced to accompany the infant to the hospitals on the night of the incident.”She was very concerned about missing her methadone appointment the next morning,” MacDougall said.She requested $25,000 bail.Defense attorney Ronald Ranta said Nelson has been addicted to opiates and is now dependent on methadone after receiving painkillers when diagnosed years ago with severe scoliosis. He said his client, who also has a history of mental disorders, depends on disability payments and is in family court fighting to maintain visitation rights with her other children. He said Nelson was a client for whom “it would be suicidal to leave the area.”He requested Nelson be released on personal recognizance with a GPS bracelet.Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead ordered $10,000 cash bail and GPS monitor