Police Make Arrest In Violent Case Of Alleged Child Abuse
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami-Dade County judge released a 25-year-old man on bond Friday on charges of aggravated child abuse and torture.
Francisco Garcia had surrendered to Miami police after what they called a "very tragic, tragic" child abuse case.
A police report detailed what happened on October 9th at a home in NW Miami.
The report said the 2-year old boy's mother left him with Garcia while she went to buy food. Moments later Garcia called the woman and told her to go home because her little boy was unconscious after falling in the tub.
Rescue crews rushed the boy to the hospital where doctors felt he showed signs of child abuse.
Police told CBS4 Garcia beat the boy so badly he needed emergency brain surgery.
"They noticed bruising, they noticed injuries that were kind of suspicious," police Lt. Freddy Cruz said.
Garcia later told police he scratched the boy's face, neck and chest while trying to lift the child out of the bathtub.
"This is a 25-year old man beating a 2-year old boy," Lt. Cruz told reporter Donna Rapado. "So, I mean, in one minute he could have taken this child's life. This 2 year old could not defend himself. So, you can only imagine what that child must have been going through."
"I'm ordering that you stay away from the victim whose initials are YV, the minor. Do not have any contact with this person," Judge Mindy Glazer ordered Garcia at a hearing, then releasing him on $10,000 bond.
Cruz said the boy is still in the hospital recovering from surgery.