A Butler Township father will serve 4 to 8 years in prison for striking his 7-week-old son's head off a bedroom wall.

Tyler G. Duddy, 26, in Butler County Court Tuesday, said he was “terribly sorry. I never meant to injure or harm anyone. It's a tragedy.”

But Butler County Judge William Shaffer responded that, even with the best of intentions, an action “in an instant can cause a lifetime of misery.”

Duddy, according to court records, told police and family members multiple lies about how his son's injuries occurred June 19, before acknowledging that he hit the boy's head off a wall in his apartment at Old Plank Estates along Old Plank Road.

In a previous court hearing, a doctor testified the child's injuries included skull fractures, facial bruising, bleeding above his brain and a fractured rib.

The child, who initially was placed in critical care at Children's Hospital, now is doing well, said his mother Brittany Kies.

“If you would see Callen (the boy) now, you never would even know that he's been hurt.”

Kies testified in court that a team of specialists help Callen with physical and developmental delay issues. However, no one can say for sure if these issues were caused by the assault or a genetic disorder. Callen, Kies said, has a chromosome that is not fully developed and it is too soon to tell if the impact is temporary or lifelong.

Still, Kies said she's ended her relationship with Duddy and was sorry the defendant didn't get a longer jail term for injuring her son.

Duddy pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

In addition to the prison time, the judge ordered Duddy to spend 60 months on state probation. The judge opted not to place restrictions on Duddy's contact with his son, saying those decisions would best be made by the parole board when the defendant is released and family court.