HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — A man stands accused of assaulting his 9-month-old son.
On Thursday morning, Guam Police Department officers responded to a family violence report in Mangilao, where they met with a woman who accused Antonio Jose Pinaula, 23, of assaulting his 9-month-old son, according to a magistrate’s complaint filed in the Superior Court of Guam.
At 8:30 that morning, the woman, Pinaula and the minor were asleep in their bedroom when the infant began crying and the woman proceeded to make a bottle for him. The child continued to cry after receiving the bottle, when Pinaula allegedly “kicked him over,” according to the complaint.
“Pinaula then forcefully stomped down on (minor’s) facial area multiple times with his bare right foot while shouting, ‘I’m going to kill you,'” the complaint stated.
The woman then tried to shove Pinaula away, but Pinaula allegedly began to hit the child’s head “using an open palm with his right hand in (a) hard manner while shouting, ‘Today’s the day he’s going to die,'” according to the complaint.
The woman was frightened by Pinaula’s verbal threats as she believed Pinaula would carry them out, but managed to shove Pinaula away and took the child to her sister’s residence to call the police. As she ran toward her sister’s house, Pinaula allegedly yelled he would kill the child if he did that again.
An officer conducted an injury check on the child and saw redness in both of the minor’s ears, his breathing was rapid and shallow, and the child was turning his head side to side frequently. There was also red, dried liquid, which appeared to be blood, around the child’s mouth.
According to the complaint, officers searched for Pinaula at the residence, and then found Pinaula at the rear side of his residence near the jungle.
“I’m sorry, officers, I’m here. I’m done running. I’m coming out,” Pinaula allegedly said before being placed in wrist restraints.
The complaint stated Pinaula wrote a statement in which he confessed to slapping the child on the left cheek and arm numerous times, also admitting he threw chairs and flipped a table. Pinaula also wrote he “slapped him harder than normally,” according to the complaint.
Pinaula was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged Friday with aggravated assault as a second-degree felony and terrorizing and child abuse as third-degree felonies.
The Guam Police Department seal is seen Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, at GPD headquarters in Tiyan.
