“I have been doing this for 28 years and this is about as ugly a case as I’ve ever seen,” Iron County Trial Court Judge C. Joseph Schwedler said before handing down the sentences for 23-year-old Jesse James Winkler and 26-year-old Jennifer Ann Marie Winkler.

Jesse Winkler will spend a minimum of three years and two months in prison, which was the highest minimum sentence under Michigan’s sentencing guidelines. Jennifer Winkler will serve a minimum of one year and six months in prison.

Each previously pleaded no contest to felony child abuse-second degree, so the maximum possible penalty is 10 years in prison.

Their daughter now is in foster care and still dealing with the injuries, Iron County Prosecutor Melissa Powell said in court.

JENNIFER WINKLER

Jesse Winkler on Nov. 27, 2017 in Iron River broke the infant’s arm while pulling her out of a bassinet, according to a stipulated set of facts agreed to by all attorneys.

The child was “inconsolable and in the fetal position” when Jesse Winkler then broke her legs by forcibly straightening them so he could change her diaper, the facts state.

Neither Jesse Winkler nor Jennifer Winkler immediately took the baby to the hospital despite her “acute distress,” according to the facts.

It wasn’t until a visiting home health care worker discovered the arm injury the next day that the child finally went to the hospital, the facts state.

Jesse Winkler does have some mental health issues and isn’t an “inherently evil person,” defense attorney Michael Scholke said at sentencing. He has acknowledged his role in the incident and hopes the injuries don’t have long-term effects on the child, Scholke added.

Jennifer Winkler’s role in the case was more of a “failure to report,” defense attorney Geoffrey Lawrence argued.

Neither defendant opted to make a statement to the judge.

Powell called the case one of the worst instances of child abuse aside from a fatality she’d ever seen as a prosecutor. Normal care and handling doesn’t result in the type of injuries the child had, she said.

Although the Winklers have accepted responsibility, Powell claimed their stories don’t match up with all the injuries. Furthermore, Powell said Jennifer Winkler was initially misleading with investigators by telling them the injuries came from Jesse Winkler tripping and falling while holding the baby.