Plea entered in child abuse case

SANDPOINT - A Ponderay man pleaded guilty Monday to felony injury to a child as part of a proposed agreement with the state.

Bobby Daniel Adams entered an Alford plea, which means he admits no wrongdoing, but concedes he could be convicted at trial. The plea will be treated the same as a regular guilty plea when he's sentenced.

The plea agreement, which the state and defense seek to make binding upon the court, proposes two to seven years in prison with retained jurisdiction, according to court documents. When jurisdiction is retained, a defendant could qualify for release after serving six months with the Idaho Department of Correction.

1st District Judge John Patrick Luster took the agreement under advisement after Adams entered the plea. If Luster declines to adopt the sentence recommendations, Adams could be allowed to rescind his guilty plea and proceed to trial.

Adams' five-day jury trial was set to start this week.

Adams, court records indicate, has already undergone a psychological evaluation. A presentence report, which judges use when weighing aggravating and mitigating circumstances, is pending.

Adams, 25, is accused of causing life-threatening injuries to his infant son on Aug. 17, 2008. The child, who was about five weeks old at the time of the incident, suffered a fractured skull and other injuries consistent with abusive head trauma, according to prior testimony in the case.

Adams allegedly told an Idaho State Police investigator the child became unresponsive and hit his head on a cooking pan when he tried to revive him by splashing water from a kitchen sink.