Rodney James Rogers, 31, appeared in the County Court in Ballarat yesterday and pleaded guilty to four counts of recklessly causing injury.

The court heard Rogers took his two-month-old daughter to Ballarat Base Hospital in December, 2014, after one of her legs started to swell.

Doctors uncovered she was suffering from a string of injuries, including fractures to her legs and internal bleeding, with experts later determining they could not have been sustained accidentally.

Police became suspicious and tapped the phones of Rogers and his partner, revealing he was under stress as the primary carer for their two young children after she had returned to work.

Months later in June, 2015, officers interviewed Rogers and he admitted he had been rough with his daughter while changing her but he denied any injuries were intentional.

Further intercepts revealed Rogers had spoken to his partner about what he would say to police before officers moved in, arresting him and laying charges in July.

Rogers’ lawyers initially pushed for a community corrections order to be imposed, saying his daughter’s injuries were the result of his stress and were unintentional.

The court also heard Rogers’ partner had left him and he had not seen his children for months.

But Judge Liz Gaynor said Rogers’ guilty plea showed he knew his actions could cause injury.

“Infants, by their very nature, are entirely vulnerable to their parents,” she said.

“A message must be sent to the community that parents have a very high duty of care to their children and that the sort of treatment you measured out to your daughter, no matter how stressful the circumstances, will be met with a stern response.”