Jesse Vinaccia jailed for 8.5 years for killing then-girlfriend’s baby boy
A judge who today sentenced a Victorian man to 8.5 years behind bars for killing his girlfriend’s baby had a warning for him.
A Victorian man was “fed up” and “frustrated” with the father of his girlfriend’s 17-week-old baby when he fatally shook the child in January 2016.
Jesse Vinaccia, 26, was today jailed for eight-and-a-half years for child homicide which took place moments after he argued with the child’s father while his girlfriend was at work.
The Victorian Supreme Court today heard details of how little Kaleb died and what led up to his death.
Vinaccia had been left in charge of feeding and caring for the baby boy. On the day Kaleb died, Vinaccia and the baby’s father Shannon Spackman were corresponding on Facebook.
Mr Spackman told him: “This is ridiculous. And you’re not the dad, I am, and I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t post photos of my son every day.”
The court heard Vinaccia was “fed up and frustrated with Mr Spackman” when he “put (Kaleb) down in the cot a bit hard.”
Shortly after, he contacted Kaleb’s mother, Erin Baylis-Clarke. He texted her: “Kaleb’s acting funny”.
When she asked what was wrong, he replied: “Bub his (sic) not breathing, what do I do?”
Seven days later, Kaleb’s life support was withdrawn.
In court today, Justice Michael Croucher said Vinaccia was sorry.
“Given Mr Vinaccia’s admissions, remorse, limited criminal history and good prospects of rehabilitation, the particular hardship imprisonment will bring through opprobrium and fear of the risk of harm, and my conclusion that he is unlikely to offend in this way again, I consider that specific deterrence is a sentencing purpose of only very modest significance in the present case,” he said.
But he also warned the convicted killer that he’ll continue to be the “target” of other inmates behind bars.
“In 2016, when Mr Vinaccia was first incarcerated, he was set upon by three inmates who heard of the nature of allegations against him.
“Given the nature of what is now his conviction, and the ‘code’ that often applies in prison, I accept that it is likely that Mr Vinaccia will continue to be a target for cowardly types. As a result, he will suffer the fear of harm, and at least the opprobrium of other prisoners, which in turn will make it likely that he spends a substantial period of his time in prison isolated from many others.”
Ms Baylis-Clarke told a pre-sentence hearing last month she will never get to see her boy grow up.
“I don’t get to see him grow up, never get to hear him call me mum or tell me he loves me,” Ms Baylis-Clarke said.
“Being a mother without a child to nurture is so empty,” she said.
She said she would take a blanket to the cemetery and “lie at his graveside for hours on end, just wanting to be with him”.
“Now I wish I hadn’t buried him. I’d wish he’d been cremated so I could have him home with me always.”
Kaleb’s father also said he struggled to live without his son.
“I will miss out on his first words, his first steps, his first day at school,” he said in a statement read to the court.
Justice Croucher believed Vinaccia was remorseful, citing footage of a police interview in which “he looks like a completely broken man. He knows he has done something horrible.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen a person as distressed as he was in the interview in my time,” he said.
Defence lawyer Glenn Casement described Vinaccia as a “young man who will carry the burden of what’s occurred for the remainder of his days”.
Vinaccia must serve a minimum of five-and-a-half years in jail before he becomes eligible for parole.
— with AAP
