Father Sentenced After Daughter Struck By Projectile From Pellet Gun

The Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown Borough. Credit; Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com

A Bucks County man will avoid jail time after an incident that injured his 4-year-old daughter, according to court records.

David Stanley Rose Jr., 29, of the Langhorne section of Middletown Township, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault. Charges of reckless endangerment and aggravated assault were not pursued by prosecutors during a hearing earlier this month at the Bucks County Justice Center, the docket stated.

Rose was sentenced by Bucks County Court of Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Finley to three years of probation, including 180 days of home confinement with electronic monitoring. The court also ordered that Rose have no unsupervised visits with his daughter and barred him from possessing any weapons or firearms.

The incident occurred in March at the family’s home on Oakland Avenue and left the 4-year-old girl with an eye injury.

According to court documents, Rose’s daughter suffered a serious eye injury when she was struck by a projectile from a pellet rifle.

Police noted in court papers that the projectile’s trajectory was downward, lodging near the girl’s spinal cord, and expressed skepticism about Rose’s account of the events. Investigators said there were inconsistencies in his story.

During an interview, the injured girl told authorities that the pellet rifle went “pew” while her father was holding it. She also mentioned that her father apologized to her, police said.

At the sentencing, Rose’s wife, who is pregnant with the couple’s fourth child, defended her husband in court, according to the Bucks County Courier Times.

“In my heart I feel it wasn’t intentional,” the woman told the court, according to the newspaper.

Rose expressed remorse for the incident in the courtroom.

“Most importantly, David is extremely relieved that his daughter is doing well and faces no permanent injuries as a result of the incident. David clearly admitted that his decision making caused harm to his daughter but the judge was very methodical in considering David as a whole person, father and husband rather than defining him by one incident. David is looking forward to taking advantage of his second chance to be the provider and role model he know he can be for his wife and children,” said Gregg Shore, Rose’s defense attorney.