Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- Jose Juan Camey-Cabrera faces child torture charge in Midvale abuse case.
- His wife, Lizbeth Hurtado-Breton, was charged in October with similar offenses.
- The 4-month-old victim suffered severe burns, a brain bleed and fractured ribs.
MIDVALE — The husband of a Midvale stepmother charged in October with abusing their 4-month-old daughter is now facing charges himself.
Jose Juan Camey-Cabrera was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with child torture and 13 counts of aggravated child abuse, first-degree felonies. His wife, Lizbeth Hurtado-Breton, 36 — the girl's stepmother — was charged in October with the same crimes.
The investigation began Sept. 30 when police responded to Primary Children's Hospital, where they found a 4-month-old baby "being treated for severe burns on her face and head. (She) also had what appeared to be purple dye covering the burns on her face. (Her) right eye appeared to be swollen shut, and she had detached hair stuck in the burns on her face and right ear," according to charging documents.
Additional tests showed the girl was also suffering from a brain bleed, two fractured ribs and other fractures that were in different stages of healing, the charges state.
When questioned, Hurtado-Breton claimed she wrapped the baby in a blanket and put her in front of a "humidifier" to relieve the baby's congestion. But investigators soon clarified that the humidifier was really a pot of boiling water on the stove, the charges state.
After the second time doing this, prosecutors say Hurtado-Breton "described wiping the victim's face off, literally. She observed the skin was dead and coming off in a napkin."
Camey-Cabrera told investigators that when he got home from work that day, his daughter's face was "destroyed," according to charging documents. On another occasion, he arrived home from work and his daughter had "medical tape over her mouth," which Hurtado-Breton allegedly applied because the young girl was crying.
"Camey-Cabrera further stated that on Aug. 21, he got home from work and observed (his daughter) with both of her arms bound with medical tape behind her back. Hurtado-Breton told Camey-Cabrera that (the girl) would not eat, and she did not want her to 'resist' when she was trying to feed her," the charges state.
Despite these alleged incidents and several more described by Camey-Cabrera, police say he did not take any action to prevent it from happening again or contact police and continued going to work during the day, leaving Hurtado-Breton as the girl's primary caretaker.
