An Ocala man is behind bars after being accused of causing life-threatening injuries to an infant.
Bryan Orlando Aponte, 27, was arrested late Thursday afternoon by Marion County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Det. Nick Sutliff and charged with aggravated child abuse. Aponte is accused of seriously injuring a 2½-month old boy.
On April 11, the victim was transported by Marion County Fire Rescue to Advent Health Ocala. The following day, the sheriff’s office was notified that the infant had been transported by helicopter to a second area hospital due to the severity of his injuries.
Sutliff responded to that hospital to conduct an investigation. Doctors confirmed the victim had bilateral rib fractures that already had healed, as well as petechial hemorrhaging, hemorrhaging in his brain and bucket handle tibia fractures. All injuries were determined to be caused by non-accidental trauma, a sheriff’s office report states.
During an interview with Sutliff, Aponte recounted an incident a few weeks earlier where he was awakened by the sound of gurgling and found the victim to be unresponsive and to have vomit on his face. Aponte claimed he delivered blows to the victim’s back and administered CPR until the victim became responsive again. Aponte told Sutliff that he did not seek medical attention for the victim because he and a witness did not believe the victim to be injured, the report says.
During a second interview on Thursday, Sutliff confronted Aponte with the information that the injuries to the infant didn’t match the statements he had provided earlier in the investigation. Aponte then allegedly admitted to becoming frustrated in the past and picking the child up and shaking him in an attempt to get him to stop crying or calm down.
Aponte is being held in the Marion County Jail on $5,000 bond. He is due in court May 19 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charge.