Maine man sentenced to 25 years for death of infant son; Case renews criticism of state’s child welfare agency

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• 30-year-old Reginald Melvin has been sentenced to 25 years for the death of his 1-year-old son.
• Melvin has previously faced a series of domestic violence charges, and reportedly threatened to kill the child and her mother.
• The case has renewed criticism of Maine’s child welfare agency.

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.

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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.

Reginald Melvin, above, 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. (Piscataquis County Jail via AP)

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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.