Dad faces 15 years in prison for "worst" case of child abuse involving vicious beatings of 5-year-old son (Bridgeport, Connecticut)

Dad is identified as DAQUON GOMILLION.

http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Father-faces-15-years-in-worst-child-abuse-case-5797174.php

Father faces 15 years in 'worst' child abuse case

Daniel Tepfer
Updated 9:12 pm, Thursday, October 2, 2014

BRIDGEPORT -- It was the worst case of child abuse local police and state experts said they had ever seen. The 5-year-old boy had numerous scars on both legs, his back and chest; his lip had been split, healed over and split again.

His father now faces 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to the abuse Thursday.

"This young child was flogged with a cord over and over again during an extended period of time. A portion of his ear is missing and we still don't know how that occurred," State's Attorney John Smriga told state Superior Court Judge Robert Devlin.

But 23-year-old Daquon Gomillion appeared oblivious to it all. He stood before the judge looking around the courtroom with no sign of concern.

Asked by the judge if he had ever held a job he joked: "Baby-sitting," he said.

During the brief hearing Gomillion pleaded to first-degree assault and risk of injury to a child under the Alford Doctrine. He is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 12.

In September 2013, the boy's mother brought the boy to a dentist on East Main Street for a preschool checkup, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

The dentist called the state Department of Children and Families. The boy was subsequently examined by Dr. John Leventhal, of Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital.

"This 5-year-old boy has extensive scarring over most of his body," Leventhal said. "The number of scars is too numerous to count and the number exceeds the number that I have ever seen on any other child."

During an interview at the Center for Children and Families, the boy told investigators he had been beaten by Gomillion with a brush and electric cords since he was a baby.

He said the beatings "hurt very bad" and he was made to apologize to Gomillion after each one.

His mother, Jarelis Lugo, was subsequently arrested after police said she admitted Gomillion had been abusing the boy for years. She is awaiting trial on risk-of-injury charges.

Smriga said the boy is now living with his grandparents under the supervision of the state Department of Children and Families.