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TinniTus soluTions wax reMoval on-siTe Hearing aid repair & Cleaning A judge has sentenced an Oshawa man to 12 years in prison for inflicting multiple injuries that led to the death of his girlfriend's infant son. Denim Henderson is responsible for an appalling constellation of injuries, including bruises, abrasions and broken and fractured bones, discovered after nine-month-old Kaleb McKay's death in late 2016, Superior Court judge Laura Bird said in imposing the sentence Tuesday, March 1. Kaleb died after being subjected to multiple assaults over a six-week period when Henderson lived with the child and his mother in their Oshawa apartment, the judge concluded. "His death was cruel, and so completely unnecessary," Bird commented. "He was utterly dependent on his caregivers and defenceless against the abuse." Henderson, who was convicted in December 2021 of manslaughter, aggravated assault and failing to the provide the necessities of life to Kaleb, wept as he was handcuffed and led from an Oshawa courtroom to begin serving his sentence. Earlier in the proceeding, he delivered a teary address during which he said his life has been upended by Kaleb's death and his subsequent prosecution. "I've let a lot of people down," he said, sobbing. "I just hope I get a chance to rebuild myself." Henderson, 29, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in a trial that began Nov. 8, 2021. Jurors heard that Kaleb was declared dead by paramedics responding to a 911 call at the Oshawa apartment Henderson shared with Kaleb's mother on the night of Dec. 29, 2016. A subsequent autopsy revealed Kaleb had sustained dozens of injuries throughout his tiny body. The Crown alleged that Henderson caused Kaleb's injuries, including numerous fractures, bruises and abrasions found by a pathologist to have occurred at or near the time of the infant's death. Henderson testified in his own defence, denying he'd ever hurt Kaleb and crying as he described finding the infant's lifeless body. During a lengthy cross-examination prosecutor Jinwon Kim confronted Henderson with the Crown's theory: that he'd grown frustrated with a fussy Kaleb and forced the child's face down into the mattress of his crib to "shut him up." Jurors found Henderson not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, aggravated assault, and failing to provide the necessaries of life. In her March 1 ruling, Bird said that while the exact findings of fact made by the jury are unclear, their verdict indicates they believed Henderson assaulted Kaleb and caused his death. "What is absolutely clear ... is that the jury rejected Mr. Henderson's evidence that he did not do anything at any time to cause Kaleb harm," Bird said. "The jury concluded he committed an unlawful act - an assault that contributed significantly to (Kaleb's) death." Bird sentenced Henderson to nine years in prison for manslaughter and three years, to be served consecutively, for aggravated assault. The remaining charge resulted in a one-year sentence, to be served concurrently. Bird's decision to impose the consecutive sentence was based on her conclusion that Henderson had repeatedly assaulted Kaleb in the weeks leading up to the child's death. An autopsy revealed that prior to his death the infant has sustained dozens of bone fractures and breaks, including a fractured skull and vertebrae, as well as a broken arm and leg and multiple broken and fractured ribs. Some of the injuries had healed by the time of Kaleb's death. Kaleb also sustained a fractured jaw, probably when his face was pushed down into his mattress crib on the day he died, the judge added. "This was not an isolated incident," Bird said. "Kaleb's injuries were caused by the application of a significant amount of force on a number of occasions." Although Henderson had to have known Kaleb had been injured, he failed to seek help for the child, Bird said. Henderson, who was arrested in July of 2018, was given credit for the equivalent of a year of pretrial custody, leaving him 11 years to serve in penitentiary. MAN FOUND GUILTY OF INFANT'S DEATH SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS JEFF MITCHELL jmitchell@ durhamregion.com NEWS Denim Henderson of Oshawa has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in the 2016 death of Kaleb Mckay, who was nine months old. Denim Henderson Facebook photo