Man guilty of baby sex assault and murder
A West Australian man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering a 10-month-old baby.
Mervyn Kenneth Douglas Bell, 27, had been on trial in the WA Supreme Court for more than two weeks, accused of abusing the child for about 15 hours in March last year, including inflicting burns, broken bones and bruises.
Justice John McKechnie, who presided over the trial without a jury, reserved his decision after combing through forensic evidence including graphic images of the dead baby, before returning his judgment on Friday.
Bell had claimed the child’s injuries were caused when he fell out of a moving car travelling at about 60km/h, when the boy sat on hot rocks by a river, and when he fell into the water.
But Justice McKechnie said Bell’s claims the baby had fallen from a car seat were a “lie” and that rocks had caused his burns was “unbelievable”.
Bell had showed a “callous disregard for his health and safety”, Justice McKechnie said.
During the trial, the court heard the cause of death could not be ascertained, but the baby had suffered a broken arm and leg, third-degree burns on parts of his body, and severe bruising on his genitals and anus.
Justice McKechnie said it was one of the more “evil” crimes he had encountered, and the number and nature of the injuries could not have been caused by accident.
“It is not possible for the deceased to have injured himself,” Justice McKechnie said.
“He was not yet able to walk.”
Justice McKechnie said Bell had a motive to harm the child because the baby’s mother had humiliated him.
“You had no good reason to take charge of the child,” he said.
Justice McKechnie said while Bell had not intended to kill the baby, his overall intention was to threaten the child’s life, which meant he was guilty of murder.
The child’s mother and supporters wept and cheered in court when the verdict was handed down.
Bell was remanded in custody for sentencing in December, with Justice McKechnie warning him that he would face a life sentence.
The night before he took the baby from Broome, Bell punched and kicked the child’s mother and left her on the ground after stripping her naked.
The woman was hospitalised but was also charged over an assault on police, the outcome of which is still to be resolved.
Outside court, the baby’s aunt read a statement on behalf of the family, thanking the detectives in the case but saying the local police should have acted more swiftly when the kidnapping was reported.
“(The baby’s) beautiful eyes would have searched for his mother,” the aunt read.
“But he was not to know she was under custody in intensive care in Broome Hospital having just been critically bashed by Mervyn Bell and strangely arrested by Broome Police when they attended the assault.
“His eyes would have searched for his beloved Pop who, as soon as he realised he had been taken by Mervyn Bell, frantically sought help from Broome Police to find him and sadly was turned away.”
The family said the loss of the baby was an “unbearable grief” they would have to live with.
Comment is being sought from police.