Michigan First Degree Child Abuse Charges

Steven A. Torres and Erica Jackson-Torres, a married couple from Saginaw, are facing very serious child abuse charges in the wake of a recent incident in which a toddler under their supervision was badly hurt. Both have been charged with first degree child abuse, which is a felony under Michigan law, and punishable by up to life in prison.

 
But what happened here?

 
According to court documents, the couple were apparently helping the child’s mother, who is a relative of theirs, to care for her little boy by babysitting him. The Torres’ looked after the boy, who is 2-years-old, in their own home.

 
But over that weekend, the toddler was discovered to have sustained some very serious injuries which led to a police report and subsequent investigation.

 
It has not been made clear yet who found and reported the injuries, but the boy had apparently suffered from a broken wrist, bruises all over his body, cigarette burns on his face and one ear, and ligature marks around his neck, showing that an attempt had been made to strangle him.

 
Police records show that the abuse most likely took place on January 18th, although little detail has been released about the circumstances surrounding this tragedy. The Torres’ were arrested on first degree child abuse charges just two days later, on the 20th, and arraigned on the 22nd.

 
At the arraignment District Judge Kyle Higgs Tarrant entered a plea of not guilty for Steven Torres, and a plea of not guilty for Erica Torres as well. He set their bail at $250,000, or ten percent, each. Neither one has posted bail yet, and they are both still being held in jail until their next court date.

 
Their preliminary hearings have both been scheduled for February 11th in the Saginaw County District Court.