A Wisconsin man whose 2-year-old son died after falling off a skid steer and getting crushed will serve a year of probation for misdemeanor child neglect, according to recent court records.
Caleb A. Schachtschneider, 43, of Ogdensburg was charged after the incident occurred April 5, 2021, on his farm in St. Lawrence.
Schachtschneider told a deputy he was clearing manure with the skid steer, while his son was on his lap and later he was moved to the skid steer’s cab floor. As he was lowering the bucket, his son fell forward, according to the criminal complaint. The child’s head hit between the cross member on the boom and the skid steer’s frame.
“I did not have him secured and I should have,” he told a deputy, according to the complaint. The child was airlifted to a hospital and later died of his injuries.
Schachtschneider also said his son would ride with him on the skid steer two to three times a week. He had removed the skid steer’s front door several years ago, according to the complaint.
Other children had been injured on the farm by the skid steer before Schachtschneider’s son died. Schachtschneider was operating the skid steer in 2017 to feed cows when his 6-year-old son tried to climb onto the skid steer, slipped, and the bucket severely injured his leg, according to a New York Times article. Two years before that, his 8-year-old son drove the skid steer into his older brother, injuring him.
Plea Deal
Schachtschneider was initially charged with felony second-degree reckless homicide and child neglect. On February 12, he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor child neglect. The felony reckless homicide charge will be put on hold for a year and dropped if he completes the following probationary terms:
- Complete a skid steer safety course and any other training related to child safety in agricultural settings as recommended and approved by agent
- Complete a minimum of 10 hours of community service speaking about the injuries to his children and the death of his child.
- Submit to any assessments and fully participate in any counseling deemed appropriate by the agent and abide by any treatment recommendations.
District Attorney Kat Turner said a plea deal was struck to prevent having Schachtschneider’s children testify at trial and that the requirement he speak out about the incidents to others could help prevent similar deaths, according to Fox 11 News.
Schachtschneider’s attorney, Nila Robinson, said Schachtschneider ran the farm while also caring for his six children, and he has since increased safety measures to protect them, the news station reported.
Kids and Machinery: A Lethal Combination
Contact with machinery is one of the leading causes of death for children in the agriculture industry, which has the highest number of fatalities for children under 18 of any other U.S. industry, according to the 2022 Childhood Agricultural Injuries Fact Sheet published by the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety.
The center reports that a child dies about every three days in an agriculture-related incident and each day about 33 are injured. The leading causes of death were from tractors, ATVs and UTVs, followed by contact with machinery such as skid steers.
Cultivate Safety recommends the following safety practices regarding children and skid steers:
- Never permit riders in the bucket or operator’s compartment.
- Do not allow young children in the worksite.
- Know your field of vision and learn all blind spots.
- Keep bystanders at a safe distance.
- Instruct workers, family members and others that they should never approach skid steers or other operating equipment until they make eye contact with the operator and the operator stops operation. The operator should be trained to stop equipment before allowing someone to approach.
- Operation of a skid steer should be restricted to those at least 16 years old who have been trained on skid steer operation safety.
