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Youngsville man sentenced for endangering the welfare of a child

A Youngsville man who told police he would “knuckle up” his two-year-old daughter as a form of discipline was sentenced Friday morning.

Michael Ryan Andrzejeski, 28, was charged in July with endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault by Youngsville Police after Children and Youth Services reported suspected abuse to have occurred between April 16 and May 18, following an evaluation of the child at Warren General Hospital at which her injuries were determined to be “nonaccidental.”

In exchange for the plea to endangering the welfare of a child, entered by Andrzejeski on Oct. 15, an additional count of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of simple assault were not prosecuted.

“What you have done to a beautiful two-year-old child is beyond my imagination,” Judge Skerda told Andrzejeski before handing down his sentence. Andrzejeski told police during his initial interview, according to the affidavit of probable cause, that he would “knuckle (his daughter) up when she would not do what he wanted. He would lose his cool and get angry with her. He would also grab her by her arms, causing bruises.” He further admitted “to losing his cool with his daughter and punching her in the head and face area” and that he “has also locked his daughter in her bedroom for long periods of time for punishment.” While locked in that room, police learned, the child would ask to use the restroom and be denied, with Andrzejeski refusing to open the door, causing her to urinate and defecate in her bed. Andrzejeski told police that he “would also force his two-year-old daughter to eat foods she did not want to eat by forcing them into her mouth and holding her nose and mouth shut,” according to the affidavit of probable cause. “He would also force clothes on her when she would not get dressed fast enough.”

Beyond the physical bruises, Skerda told Andrzejeski, “the trauma that you’ve caused her is undeniable.” While defense asked the court to consider a standard range sentence due to Andrzejeski having a diagnosed mental health disorder since childhood, Skerda did not find any “reason the court would even consider a standard range sentence. While you have a mental illness,” Skerda said to Andrzejeski before handing down his sentence, “you also had a responsibility. You neglected your mental health,” she told him, adding that in the process of so doing he caused unimaginable injury and trauma to his own daughter.

Andrzejeski was sentenced to 18 months to seven years in a state correctional institution with boot camp eligibility. He was ordered to have no contact with his victim, to undergo a comprehensive mental health evaluation, to pay a fine of $1,500, court costs, to submit a sample of his DNA to the state repository and pay the statutory $250 fee thereof, and to pay fees of $425.

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