In the first jury trial held in the county since the COVID-19 pandemic halted them, a Common Pleas Court jury on Wednesday found a 28-year-old Butler man not guilty of criminal charges alleging he injured his former live-in girlfriend's 14-month-old daughter in July 2019 in Butler Township.

The jury of seven women and five men found Jaime J. Rivera not guilty of felony charges of aggravated assault of a person less than 6 years old and a defendant 18 years or older and endangering the welfare of children, and misdemeanor charges of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person.

Judge Timothy McCune found Rivera guilty of a summary charge of harassment and sentenced him to pay a $300 fine and court costs.

Jurors were seated socially distanced in the public seating area instead of the jury box, and the attorneys and Rivera were positioned to face the seating area instead of the judge's bench.

The trial began Tuesday with testimony from Jessica Fair, 28, the mother of the toddler, as well as a pediatrician from UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh who examined the girl and Butler Township police.

Dr. Jennifer Wolford, the pediatrician who treated the child, said the injuries she suffered were inflicted by an adult and would have been painful.

Photos used as evidence showed the girl had large bruises on her torso under both arms and on her right thigh as well as scratches and bruises on her face and head.

The torso and leg injuries were multiple bruises that coalesced together, Wolford said.

She said the explanation provided by Fair of how the injuries occurred did not adequately explain the injuries.

Fair, who took her child to the hospital, told staff that her daughter pulled Rivera's tool bag down from a nightstand, and the bag and a table fell on her. She said the head and face injuries occurred previously. Her cat caused the scratches, and the bruises were the result of a fall at her aunt's house.

Rivera did not testify.

The jury deliberated for about an hour Wednesday after closing arguments were made by Assistant District Attorney Robert Zanella and public defender Kimberly Hudak. Public defender Joseph Smith argued the case Tuesday.

In her closing statement, Hudak attempted to cast doubt on the prosecution's case and suspicion upon Fair. She said the head and facial injuries were not reported or investigated, and Children and Youth Services had been involved in a case involving Fair's older son in the past.

Investigators focused on Rivera instead of the evidence, Hudak said.

“The system has failed,” Hudak said.

Zanella said the evidence clearly pointed to Rivera and noted several discrepancies in the statements he made to police.

He said Rivera claimed that the text messages between him and Fair the day she took her child to the hospital and the next day were automatically deleted from his cell phone, but Fair turned over her cellphone, which also contained the messages, to police.

Zanella contended that Rivera struck the child multiple times after she disturbed him while he was playing an online video game. He admitted that investigators don't know how the facial and head injuries occurred.