OGDEN, Utah, Aug. 26, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — A Weber County man who pleaded guilty to child abuse in the critical injury of his infant son has been sentenced to prison time despite prosecutors’ recommendations of a lighter sentence, such as probation.
Jose Antonio Tamez, 27, pleaded guilty in July in exchange for the dismissal of a second charge against him: third-degree felony endangerment of a child.
Tamez (who is listed as Antonio Jose Tamez in jail records) was charged in December after an August 2016 incident in which he “… admitted to slapping the stomach of his then 5-week-old son to see his reaction, causing a large bruise on the baby’s stomach,” according to a probable cause statement.
The baby was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital, then flown by medical helicopter to Primary Children’s Hospital, in Salt Lake City.
“Doctors found that he had multiple broken bones and bilateral subdural hemorrhages,” the statement says, adding that Tamez “… admitted to being ‘too rough’ with the baby to multiple people.”
The endangerment of a child charge resulted from an incident in October of last year in which Tamez had visitation with the infant, and tested positive for meth and THC, and a test of the baby’s hair follicle also showed exposure to those drugs, the probable cause statement says.
This week in his Ogden courtroom, Second District Court Judge Michael D. DiReda handed down a sentence of 1 to 15 years in the Utah State Prison. Within that limit and with credit for time served, the exact length of Tamez’s term will be determined by the Board of Pardons and Parole.
DiReda said the crime against an innocent newborn was ” … so egregious and the victim so vulnerable and the lingering effects of the child abuse you committed so extensive,” that prison time was appropriate.
DiReda also recommended Tamez be considered for a drug treatment program while serving his term.
