A trial involving one of the most serious allegations a court can hear — the abuse of an infant — was set to begin Monday in New Hampshire. At the center of the case is a 1-year-old girl who, doctors say, suffered permanent brain damage while in the care of a man now facing 18 criminal charges.
David Trainor is accused of assaulting the young girl in 2022 in Concord. According to court documents reviewed by reporter Jackson Stoever, the child’s doctor documented a brain injury and skull swelling consistent with being slammed against a surface or thrown down. Those injuries, physicians said, are likely permanent.
Court paperwork further details that the girl sustained what may have been the intentional or traumatic removal of a fingernail — an injury that prosecutors appear to characterize as part of a broader pattern of harm.
Trainor faces a sweeping set of charges across 18 counts, including first-degree assault, second-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and witness tampering. Despite the severity of the allegations, Trainor has remained out on bail in the period leading up to trial.
The case involves a child who was just one year old at the time of the alleged assault in 2022, underscoring the vulnerability at the heart of the accusations prosecutors have brought forward.