A Manhattan man was sentenced Tuesday for an aggravated battery conviction involving an infant child under his care.
20-year-old Gerald Hartman III was given a 36-month probation sentence at a Tuesday hearing in front of Judge Grant Bannister, with an underlying prison sentence of 32 months, if he violates terms of his probation. The sentencing follows a February conviction by a Riley County jury, which found Hartman guilty on a charge of aggravated battery against a then 5-month old child in July 2021. The jury was unable to render a verdict on a second count, charging him with child abuse.
The child suffered a broken collar bone and bleeding on the brain as a result of Hartman’s actions.
Prosecutors had sought a presumptive prison sentence on the aggravated battery charge, but Judge Bannister imposed the probation sentence based on Hartman’s prior criminal history.
