Teacher To Stand Trial For Allegedly Abusing Infant Son
BRENTWOOD (KDKA) - A Brentwood High School teacher and her husband will stand trial for abusing their 10-week-old son.
The infant was discovered with several broken bones, but a defense attorney said the child's injuries are not the result of child abuse.
Stephanie Faust and her husband, Scott, are both charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment.
Police records show that their 10-week-old son was riddled with broken bones in his torso. Some of them were old injuries.
Their attorney claims the injuries are not the result of child abuse.
"This child has a rare, what commonly is referred to as brittle bone disease. That occurs - injuries occur in the womb actually," Patrick Thomassey said.
Thomassey, a prominent defense attorney in Allegheny County, said the baby suffers from something called osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease. It's a genetic disorder in which bones break easily.
Thomassey said it takes a while for the courts to catch up with medical research.
"We used to put women in jail for smothering their babies. Then we figured out SIDS, that babies just die," Thomassey said.
Doctors at Childrens Hospital claim the injuries resulted from child abuse and that's what led to criminal charges against the Fausts.
Stephanie Faust was a teacher at Brentwood High School and has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of her trial.
