Blue Hill Couple Plead Guilty in County Court

Wilbur J. Cox and his wife Jessica M. Cox, of Blue Hill accepted plea deals Wednesday in Webster County District Court. They were each accused of abusing their 9 week old daughter They each pleaded no contest to attempted child abuse. The prosecutor reduced the charge from child abuse causing injury and dropped a charge of first-degree assault in exchange for Wilbur Cox's plea of no contest to attempted Child abuse. . For Jessica’s plea of no contest, prosecutors reduced her charge from child abuse causing injury to attempted child abuse. Webster County District Judge Stephen Illingworth ordered pre-sentencing investigations and scheduled the couple’s sentencings for Feb. 16, 2011, at 10 a.m. During a preliminary hearing on Feb. 26, a Webster County Sheriff’s deputy testified the couple’s 9-week-old daughter was brought to the emergency room at Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital on Jan. 28 because she was coughing up blood. The infant was then life-flighted to Omaha Children’s Hospital. A bulb syringe reportedly used by Wilbur Cox to remove phlegm had been put back into the baby’s mouth too far and caused a cut that was repaired by surgeons. During the examination doctors also found three nickel-size bruises on the baby’s back, seven broken ribs, a small skull fracture and bone fractures in the left lower leg. The wounds were in various stages of healing, indicating they had occurred at different times during the nine weeks of the childs life. The infant was taken into the custody of the Nebraska Department of Human Services. Attempted child abuse is a Class 4 felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. Had the couple been found guilty of the child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, a class 3 felony, they could have received a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Wilbur J. Cox has two children by a previous marriage.