An Ozone Park man was arrested and charged with first-and-second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child in the brutal assault of his infant daughter, Hailey.
Juan Gomez, 23, of 104-01 Liberty Avenue allegedly caused extensive injury to the child left in his care while her mother went to work.
The infant was taken Schneider Children’s Hospital last week with bruises to her chest and eye, a healing fracture in her foot, a fractured ankle, a healing fracture to the lower leg, a bite mark to the right leg, seventeen fractured ribs (sixteen of which were healing), a lacerated liver and difficulty breathing due to a disruption to the lining of the lung.
District Attorney Richard Brown said, “The extent of the physical injuries that this innocent and helpless child suffered in just the first few weeks of her life is beyond comprehension. That they were allegedly committed by her father boggles the mind. This case will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
According to the charges, Gomez was alone with Hailey and became frustrated because she would not stop crying. He then allegedly bit her on the right leg, leaving a bite mark. To conceal what he had done, Gomez allegedly bathed the baby for the following week so nobody could see the bite mark.
In statements made to police and prosecutors Gomez said that he would grab his daughter by the feet and ankles and push her legs back until the feet and ankles were bent back onto her chest, that he head butted the baby in her head and that his head piercings caused bruising to her head, and that he would throw his daughter up in the air – about a foot – and catch her by placing his hands over her rib cage.
If convicted, Gomez could face 15 years in prison.
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