Registered sex offender Chris Garcia has bonded out of jail after being arrested on Friday for allegedly abusing an infant in Orange County.
On August 9, an unidentified infant boy was brought to a local hospital with an array of injuries. According to reporting by local NBC affiliate News Channel 8:
Doctors said he had suffered a loss of brain tissue, had multiple rib fractures and a fractured vertebra with epidural hematoma. He also had bruising on both eyes, a laceration on his neck, abrasions and contusions on his tongue, chin and neck, and his throat was swollen. The tongue and throat injuries were likely the result of having an object forcibly put in his mouth, the report said.
Doctors further reported that the injuries were caused by “a great amount of force over a period of time,” and were serious enough to have paralyzed or killed him. The infant’s mother told law enforcement she noticed bruising on her son’s face after Garcia bathed him, but that Garcia claimed he had “dropped a baby bottle and it hit the boy near his eye.”
Upon arrival and examination by medical personnel at the hospital, the mother then made a “controlled” phone call to Garcia about the results. Garcia was recorded telling her to just “make something up” about his injuries. According to the affidavit, Garcia had allegedly become “detached” from the baby in the recent past, and had displayed signs of resentment and jealousy toward him.
Garcia was arrested on charges of “aggravated child abuse,” and the detective assigned to the case requested no bond be allowed, considering “the severity of this case, and Chris’ past history involving sexual offenses towards children.” Garcia is already a registered sex offender — convicted in 2013 of “lewd or lascivious molestation of a victim under 12 years old.”
Even so, Garcia bonded from the Orange County Jail and was released soon after. As of the time of this writing, officials have yet to comment on the decision.
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