Judge Weldon Judah gave Zachery K. Ellis every chance to remove his guilty plea.

But when ultimately faced with the question, did you knowingly cause physical harm to your 7-week old son, Mr. Ellis quietly answered, "Yes."

The 21-year-old St. Joseph man pleaded guilty to abuse of a child - a class B felony - on Tuesday in Buchanan County circuit court.

Throughout a thorough question-and-answer session with the defendant, the judge attempted to determine if Mr. Ellis intentionally tried to harm his child. At one point, Mr. Judah actually asked Mr. Ellis to squeeze the judge's arm with the same pressure as the crime to gauge the force behind the action.

Mr. Ellis told the judge he didn't injure the baby on purpose, and Mr. Judah emphasized the prosecution would have to prove the defendant intentionally tried to inflict the harm. But when once again presented with a chance to withdraw his guilty plea, Mr. Ellis declined.

He testified Tuesday that in August, his son woke up at 2 a.m. and wouldn't stop crying for about a half an hour. Mr. Ellis said he squeezed the boy and heard a pop. At that point, the child stopped crying and eventually fell asleep. The next day, Mr. Ellis said his son was wriggling around on a table while the defendant changed a diaper. Mr. Ellis told the court he jerked the infant's legs to keep him from squirming away.

The defendant said he only squeezed the child once that day, but added, "I got frustrated with him before. I wasn't ready to have a child."

When Mr. Ellis and his wife noticed the infant's leg was swollen later in the day, they took him to the hospital. That visit revealed the child had spiral fractures in three limbs, three broken ribs, a bruised spleen and tearing on the inside of his mouth. The defendant testified that he did not believe his wife was responsible for any of those injuries.

Buchanan County Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins told the court that was the second time the couple had taken the child to the hospital. Mr. Scroggins said the tearing in the mouth resulted from a previous incident when the defendant shoved a bottle in the infant's mouth.

"The defendant has admitted to multiple incidents of abuse," Mr. Scroggins said.

Mr. Ellis spoke softly throughout his hearing, many of his responses barely audible.

Mr. Scroggins and public defender Stephen Williams reached a plea agreement for a five-year sentence, with the defendant forgoing a sentencing assessment report. Judge Judah rejected the plea agreement and ordered the report. The judge scheduled Mr. Ellis' sentencing for Dec. 17.

"I don't know anything about you. I don't know anything about this charge," the judge said in explaining his decision.

The maximum sentence for the charge is seven years in prison.

Mr. Ellis pleaded guilty to a class A misdemeanor of child molestation in 2006. St. Joseph police detective Trenny Wilson testified the defendant had intercourse with a child less than 14 years old in that case. Mr. Ellis received two years of supervised probation and a suspended imposition of sentence in the case. However, the court later revoked his probation, and Mr. Ellis served a year in jail.

R.J. Cooper can be reached at rjcooper@npgco.