Man in Concord Baby Assault Case Held

A man who is facing multiple charges after allegedly beating and suffocating his girlfriend’s baby daughter was in court in Concord on Feb. 27, seeking reduced bail, a request that was ultimately rejected by a judge.

Scott Diberto, 25, of Concord, was arrested on Feb. 12, and charged with two counts of first degree assault, both felonies, second-degree assault, a felony, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child or incompetent after an incident in late January.

A court appointed attorney for Diberto waived a probably cause hearing and requested reduced bail to $5,000 cash or surety bail saying that he had “long ties to New Hampshire” and family support. Before being arrested, she noted, Diberto had attained his GED, was working and would like to get his job back in Laconia. She said that he would be regularly supervised by pre-trial services even though a potential new place to live would be out of the county and the address would need to be approved as well.

A prosecutor, however, requested the judge keep the bail at $500,000 cash, due to the “serious nature of the charges” and for “the safety of the community.” She noted that Diberto didn’t have a stable residence and was very concerned from evidence already gathered in the case from Diberto and family members, through records, cellphone texts, and Facebook posts, that allegedly “the family may be involved in illegal drug use of sales.” The state would want to know the source of the funds used for the bail, she added.

The prosecutor also worried that there would be children in the home where he would be staying and those children might be in danger due to Diberto’s “severe anger issues and severe temper.” She noted that Diberto had a long criminal history that included bail jumping, possession of drugs, theft, violation of probation and parole, as well as a history of drug use.

The baby has brain damage

The prosecutor also outlined some details of the case which, until this time, had been sealed by court order.

The prosecutor stated that the baby, who is now at a hospital in Massachusetts, “was showing little improvement” from both the beatings and suffocation she allegedly sustained during what is believed to be a 12-hour period between 1 p.m. on Jan. 26, to 1 a.m. on Jan. 27, when the Concord Fire Department arrived at the apartment on Ormond Street to assist with emergency medical care. The injuries had caused “significant brain damage” and she was on a permanent feeding tube showing “no purposeful movement” and was now blind.

As the prosecutor related some of the injuries sustained by the baby, the mother of the girl could be heard sobbing uncontrollably in the back of the courtroom.

Diberto, who also has a daughter of his own to another woman, was allegedly considered to be suicidal and a danger to the community, according to the prosecutor, due to notes written on Facebook. The mother of his daughter was also in court and agreed with the decision to not lower the bail, the prosecutor stated.

The defense attorney countered that the current bail provisions, even if lowered, required that Diberto not be in contact with children. She added that even though he had previous criminal incidents, none had been violent, and had always shown up to his reported times to be incarcerated and taken responsibility for previous incidents.

Bail kept at $500,000 cash

Judge Gerard Boyle, however, sided with the prosecution and kept bail at $500,000 cash, and agreed to a request to unseal details of the investigation.

Members of Diberto’s family were in the courtroom. One privately stated they were in anguish about the incident but also said Diberto was not the monster the newspapers were making him out to be. 

A woman shouted “Scotty” to him as he was being prepared for transportation back to prison. Diberto went to turn to look at the woman but ignored the call and kept walking with a county deputy.

Diberto will be back in court in March 20, for a trail management hearing.