APPLE VALLEY, Minn. — Dakota County Attorney Backstrom announced charges today against a 23-year-old man from Apple Valley after doctors found his 2-month-old child had suffered more than 30 bone fractures.
Fredy Josue Gonzales Guevara, of Apple Valley, faces 1st degree assault charges in the alleged child abuse.
The child's mother first took the 2-month-old to the hospital on August 4, when she noticed he was struggling to move his left arm. She brought him back to the hospital on August 11 when his condition worsened. At that time the child was diagnosed with a healing fracture in his arm.
Doctors discovered more than 30 fractures, some of them in the process of healing. Due to the nature and extent of the injuries, doctors felt there was a 'high likelihood of abuse'.
Police learned that Gonzales Guevara said he was afraid he was going to hurt his children. During the investigation, police say Gonzales Guevara kept changing the story of what happened to the child.
In one version, Gonzales Guevara told police he had grabbed the baby too low on the abdomen when he pulled him out of a car seat, fracturing his rib cage. The defendant later admitted that story was a lie. He confessed to police that he had caused the injuries while changing a dirty diaper.The baby had started to kick, and Gonzales Guevara grabbed the baby's legs, forcing them up and apart.
Shortly after, Gonzales Guevara told police he thought he broke the child's arm when grabbed and forcefully squeezed it to stop the baby from crying.
Gonzales Guevara appeared in court Thursday afternoon, and his bail was set at $250,000.
