BOUNTIFUL, Utah (ABC4 News) – A 25-year-old man has been arrested for child abuse after police say his 7-month-old baby had “multiple injuries” including several broken bones.
According to an arresting document, police were notified by an employee at American Fork Hospital that the mother of a 7-month-old baby brought the girl into the emergency room with what they considered “non-accidental trauma.”
The mother told staff the baby had been left alone with her father, Maximiliano H. Dotta, the night before at their home and he had gotten “too rough” with her.
The mom noticing bruising on her left arm, swelling on the right leg and she was fussier than normal. She also noted the baby was not moving the left arm or the right leg, and that the swelling and bruising was getting worse, documents state.
The mom was visiting relatives in Utah County when they decided to take her to the hospital.
American Fork Hospital personnel said they also discovered bruising on the right cheek and right jaw, cuts on the right earlobe with multiple small scabs of different stages of healing, a significantly dislocated right elbow, a broken left upper arm, and multiple fractures of the right lower leg.
Police located Dotta at their home in Bountiful. During an interview he said around midnight on November 12, he had fed and changed his daughter’s diaper and during the process, he picked her up by both arms from the crib hard enough that it could have broken her arms, documents state.
Dotta said he tried to change her dirty diaper but she was squirming more than usual and he was tired and frustrated so he twisted her ankle to get her to stop moving, which police say is consistent with her broken ankle.
After changing her diaper Dotta said he was trying to get her to stop crying so he pinched both her ears and his fingernail cut one of them at that time. Dotta told police he bit her cheek and when placing her back in the crib, he put her back too hard and hit her leg against the crib, documents state.
Dotta was charged by the District Attorney on Wednesday with three second-degree felony counts of child abuse.
Dotta was arrested and booked into the Davis County Jail without bail. This report is based on a police report and may not contain the full details or findings.
If you suspect child abuse or neglect contact the DCFS 24/7 hotline: 855-323-3237. For more information, visit dcfs.utah.gov.
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