Marionville man gets 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to abusing baby, raping mother

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Mo. — A man from Marionville has pleaded guilty on Tuesday to shaking a baby and raping their mother earlier this year.

On Tuesday, a Lawrence County Circuit Court judge sentenced Zachary Bridwell to 23 years in prison for first-degree assault, sexual exploitation of a minor and second-degree statutory rape. An abuse or neglect of a child charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement.

On January 4, 2024, the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division told the Aurora-Marionville Police Department that a six-month-old infant was in critical condition at a Springfield hospital due to a stroke caused by Shaken Baby Syndrome and also had bruises all across her body.

Bridwell admitted to investigators that he shook her daughter by the neck as she cried on January 2 but told them he wasn’t trying to kill her, just hurt her. He also admitted to being in a sexual relationship with a minor, who was the mother of the baby.

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