Father sentenced for 1-year-old’s death that renewed criticism of Maine’s child welfare agency

DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine (AP) — A father who’d faced a series of domestic violence charges was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the death of his 1-year-old son in a case that renewed criticism of Maine’s child welfare agency.

Reginald Melvin, 30, of Milo, was sentenced Wednesday after entering a plea that had a similar consequence to a guilty plea to a charge of manslaughter. Under an agreement, prosecutors dropped a murder charge. His son, Sylus, died in August 2021 from blunt force trauma that left him with multiple internal injuries, according to the state medical examiner.

Sylus’ mother, Desiree Newbert, said she reported to the Department of Health and Human Services that Melvin threatened to kill the family including her, Sylus, and her daughter. But that a caseworker never returned her call or visited the family. Melvin had been previously charged multiple times with domestic violence.

Former state Sen. Bill Diamond accused the agency of “leaving vulnerable children in dangerous situations despite repeated warnings by family members and others that children are not safe.” The family had six different caseworkers after Sylus’ birth, and none of them compared notes with each other, Diamond said.

The infant’s death was one of several dozen flagged by the Office of Children and Family Services, part of the Maine DHHS. A spokesperson didn’t immediately return a message from The Associated Press.