An Ephrata father will serve up to 15 years in state prison for beating his infant daughter, causing rib fractures, a fractured pelvis, and facial injuries.
Edgardo Luis Reyes recently pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of a child and other charges, and was sentenced Friday to 44 months to 15 years in prison.
After that term, Reyes, 28, will serve 5 years on probation for the stalking charge, according to Lancaster County Judge Margaret Miller’s sentence.
The child, then a month old, was admitted to a hospital in August 2015 when doctors discovered numerous injuries. The doctors determined some of the injuries were from prior incidents, indicated the girl had been beaten multiple times.
In court Friday, Judge Miller said she found that information, along with the child’s age, to be aggravating factors in the sentence she ordered.
Miller said the court system must protect society’s “most vulnerable” citizens, according to Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield, lead prosecutor.
Mansfield, while asking for a state-prison sentence, stressed that the child was beaten multiple times, when she was a month old and younger.
Doctors determined the child sustained, over time, up to 28 rib fractures, a fractured pelvis, a cut on her lip, and abrasions to her face and knee.
Reyes admitted to police to squeezing the child because she was crying, and to “forcefully” pushing her legs during a diaper change.
Reyes apologized in court, according to Mansfield.
The stalking conviction regards abuse and threatening of the child’s mother on multiple occasions in 2015.
Ephrata police Officer Peter Sheppard filed charges.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright