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He was found guilty of assault with a weapon for hitting his year-and-a-half old daughter with a video game controller. Now a man from Moose Jaw awaits his sentence.
It happened in November 2014. According to court documents, the baby’s mother woke up that morning, fed the baby and got herself ready for school. She then left the girl in the care of her father, Edward Berg.
Before 11 a.m., the babysitter arrived to get the girl. The babysitter testified that when she arrived, she could hear the baby crying from outside, and the baby only stopped when the babysitter took her from her father. He told the sitter that if the girl’s injuries got any worse, she should be taken to the hospital.
The babysitter said she later noticed a huge bruise on the baby’s leg. She first took the girl to her mother, then to the hospital.
Police talked to Edward Berg after they were called to the hospital to see the baby.
Over the course of an hour and 20 minutes, Berg was questioned by police on video about what happened. Berg originally denied knowing what happened, saying he slept most of the time from when his wife left to when he left for work.
Eventually, after the officer talked to him about the frustrations of being a parent, Berg changed his story, admitting that he had “snapped”.
Berg described himself as a big ‘gamer’, but also said he has Asperger’s Syndrome, so he can get intense about his games.
On the morning in question, Berg said he actually got up when his wife left and started playing games. He told the officer that the baby wouldn’t stop crying, even when he tried to console her. He said he held the controller and the cord, and hit her with the controller.
In court Berg changed his story, testifying that he’d lied to police to get things over with. He said he actually fell asleep on the couch after his then-wife left, and pointed the finger at her for the bruises.
A friend of Berg’s produced Facebook messages from the wife’s account which said she was actually the one who hurt the baby, and was trying to frame Berg. She testified that Berg has access to her account and knew her password.
In his conclusion, Justice Kovach called it a significant assault, and said Berg came around to admitting his guilt to police relatively easily. He didn’t believe Berg’s assertion that he was pressured into the confession. Kovach also didn’t put much stock in the defense’s argument that Berg’s then-wife hurt the baby that morning, as he said Berg would have woken up to the baby’s screams. Kovach decided the charge was proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
