An Oskaloosa man was sentenced to 30 years in prison earlier this month for his involvement in the 2019 death of a 4-month-old baby.

Twenty-five-year-old Johnny Lynn Dale, formerly of Sigourney was taking care of his girlfriend’s son on the night of June 15, 2019. When she returned from work, the child was pale, had bruising on his forehead, and would not wake up. Dale told the mother to wait until the morning to take the child to the hospital.

The next morning, the infant was still unresponsive and taken to the hospital. Medical reports show that the child suffered from brain damage and bleeding, with additional damage to his spinal cord. He passed away five days later.

Dale admitted he had grown frustrated with the child and told police he had bounced the 4-month-old on an air mattress to try and get him to sleep. He was originally charged with first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death. Dale entered an Alford Plea, in which the defendant maintains their innocence, but admits that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if brought to trial.

As a result of his plea, Dale’s charges were downgraded to child endangerment resulting in serious injury, willful injury causing serious injury, and neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, all class C felonies. He was sentenced 10 years for each charge, to run consecutively.