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Charges have been placed against a man who is accused of shaking an infant which caused her to possibly become blind.
According to the secret indictment, which was unsealed at the time of his arraignment in September, Seth Pulver, 28, has been charged with reckless assault of a child.
It is alleged that on or about Feb. 16 in the village of Fredonia, Pulver recklessly caused serious physical injury to the brain of a child born June 16, 2025, by shaking, slamming or throwing her as to impact her head on a hard surface.
The case is being handled by Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey DiPalma, who discussed the indictment.
"The allegations go like this: The infant is about seven months old. The family wakes up that morning. The mother is going to work. She works at a store in Hamburg and leaves the child with dad, who is her husband. The mom gets a call from a neighbor saying the police are at the house and ambulances are at the house," DiPalma said. "(Pulver) said the little girl was non-responsible after he put her down for a nap. He makes admissions that he was shaking her, but he says not that hard, because he knows how much he can shake her."
DiPalma said the infant was initially taken to Brooks Hospital in Dunkirk and later transferred to what is now Golisano Children's Hospital in Buffalo because of the severity of the injuries.
DiPalma said the infant was intubated for several days and received significant surgeries.
"Ultimately, it's determined that she has pretty significant injuries to her eyes, which last we were told, that she was considered legally blind as a result of the shaking that caused cranial hemorrhaging and retinal hemorrhaging," he said.
DiPalma said Pulver is facing a Class D felony charge, which has a maximum of seven years in prison plus up to five years post-release supervision.
DiPalma said they waited for the investigation and surgeries to be complete to help determine what charges could be placed against Pulver, which is why there was a seventh-month delay between the infant being hospitalized and the indictment.
DiPalma said the prosecution is not offering any plea deal. A pretrial conference is set for Oct. 27.
Pulver is being represented by private counsel, Andrew Radack.
He is currently out on bail. Bail was set at $25,000 cash, $50,000 bond or $100,000 with 10% secured property.