Virginia Beach, Va. - Charles Adam Potter will spend the next 30 years behind bars after officials say he severely abused his 5-month-old son back in 2012.
Potter, 32, was sentenced to 90 years in prison with 60 years suspended leaving 30 to serve. This far exceeded the recommended maximum which is 12 years and 8 months.
Potter says he can't remember shaking his 5-month-old son Devon. A judge sentenced potter for the crime that happened in October 2012.
“For whatever reason he was crying and I couldn`t get him to stop," he says. "I didn`t know what was going on and I felt myself losing control."
Officials say Potter and his wife took their baby to CHKD's emergency room claiming they heard popping noises in his back. Doctors discovered the popping noises were actually rib fractures. They also found that the child was suffering from brain bleeds.
Potter was arrested in November 2012 and was transported to the Virginia Beach Correctional Center. Potter was charged with aggravated malicious wounding and child abuse/neglect.
Potter claims he tried to get help for his severe depression and anxiety through the VA, but says that help never came. He says he served in the Marine Corps for five years, but admits he never saw combat.
"Because I wasn`t seen in time or because I couldn`t be seen in time I snapped,” he says. “My mind broke and someone got hurt because of it.”
Potter though, has a history of abusing children. In 2006, he admits he hit his oldest daughter and spent six months behind bars.
“I smacked her,” Potter says. “She ended up being bruised across the face."
Potter says he has four children. One is living with her grandparents and the others, including Devon, he says are all in foster care.
