Dad charged with abusing 6-year-old son during visitation (Rio Rancho, New Mexico)

What is not discussed here is whether dad ADAM E. OLIVAS had access to his son by court order. Nor are we told whether Dad had a documented history of abuse, but got his custody/visitation rights anyway.

http://www.rrobserver.com/news/local/article_810cf66a-ca3a-11e2-9a17-0019bb2963f4.html

Local father charged with abusing his 6-year-old son

Posted: Sunday, June 2, 2013 12:00 am
By ARGEN DUNCAN Observer staff writer

A Rio Rancho man is accused of hitting his 6-year-old son hard enough to bruise.

Adam E. Olivas, 32, was charged with child abuse, a felony, on May 20.

According to Rio Rancho Police reports, an Albuquerque woman called police when she saw bruises on her son after he had been staying with his father, Olivas, in Rio Rancho.

The boy told an officer that Olivas picked him up from school the previous Friday and became angry after getting a bad report from the school. The child said Olivas punched him in the arm in the car and spanked him with a belt and a hand after they returned home.

The boy said sometimes Olivas would punch or kick him and knock him over in anger.

Officers found the child had a bruise the size of a baseball on the back of his thigh, plus bruises on his buttocks and back, and a small abrasion on his face, according to the report.

When officers spoke to Olivas, he said he only spanked his son with his hand. He said the boy might have acquired the other injuries when he fell off his bike two days before.

An officer referred the case to the state Children, Youth and Families Department and had a summons issued for Olivas.