Miami

Couple Charged in Brutal Case of Child Abuse: MDPD

A case of child abuse in South Florida has appalled even the most hardened detectives. A mother stands accused of letting her boyfriend physically harm her young child so violently, he broke her skull.

20-year-old Ernesto Gomez was arrested for aggravated child abuse. The 275-pound man is accused of manhandling his girlfriend's child, who is either 3 or 4 years of age.

Police said it happened at a home in southwest Miami-Dade. They said Gomez lifted the child up by the neck, in a choke hold, and dropped her to the floor, three separate times.

The girl's mother, 28-year-old Norelys Gomez, has been charged with child neglect for allegedly doing nothing to stop the abuse.

The judge said Norelys Gomez needs to choose which is more important, her daughter or her boyfriend. The woman's parents were in bond court, pleading for an affordable bond.

"She has a bad choice in men. They need her to take care of the kids. She's never been arrested before," they said in court.

Judge Mindy Glazer allowed Gomez to have supervised visits with her daughter: "She can go to the hospital and see the child."

"The state's concern is, on three separate occasions, there was violence against her daughter and she didn't do anything to stop it," a prosecutor said during the hearing.

The child remains in the hospital suffering from a cracked skull, broken collarbone and internal injuries.

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