OGDEN, Utah, Feb. 18, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — An Ogden man has been arrested after he allegedly beat his 1-year-old son, according to court documents.
A probable cause statement from the 2nd District Court of Weber County said Eliseo Estrada, 22, is facing a charge of child abuse, a second-degree felony.
On Saturday, emergency response personnel with the Ogden City Fire and Ogden City Police Departments were notified of an unconscious 1-year-old child, the statement said. The fire department arrived on scene and transported the child to the hospital.
The child’s face and head was covered in “new bruising, old bruising and stages of bruising in between,” the statement said, as well as open bleeding injuries.
The child’s mother told officers the child’s facial and head injuries were self-inflicted. She said he was born prematurely and suffers from a diagnosed mental condition in which he slams his own head against a wall or the side of the crib.
While the officers were speaking with the child’s mother, they were told by the hospital that the child was sent to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City because he had at least one bleed on the brain.
The mother then stated she was home alone that same morning around 3 a.m. to feed another 6-month-old child and the 1-year-old was also awake and banging his head against the wall. Eventually, the mother said, the 1-year-old fell over and passed out on the floor, and she called her mother and then called 911.
The arresting officer then spoke with the father of the child, Estrada. He corroborated the mother’s account the the child hits himself and inflicted the head wounds observed himself.
The arresting officer was then shown photographs of the child taken while he was at the hospital.
“I personally observed a litany of bruises on his legs, hands, arms and body,” the statement said. “He also has open sores on his front-facing hip bones that appear to be from a diaper rubbing against the skin for prolonged periods of time.”
After officers spoke with the father more, he allegedly admitted that he caused the several injuries to the child “out of frustration,” the statement said.
After being read his Miranda rights, Estrada “confessed to inflicting a combination of physical injuries, more than two, by means of spanking and hitting. He stated this was done out of frustration due to environmental and economical reasons as well as frustrations for the child’s constant and incessant crying.”
Estrada was transported to Weber County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
