- Christian Lee Gonzales, 24, faces charges of aggravated child abuse in Taylorsville.
- Prosecutors allege Gonzales admitted to handling his daughter roughly causing severe injuries.
- Text messages reveal the girl's mother warned Gonzales about his handling of their child, charges say.
TAYLORSVILLE — A Taylorsville man was charged Monday after allegedly causing severe injuries to his 4-month-old daughter.
Christian Lee Gonzales, 24, is charged in 3rd District Court with three counts of aggravated child abuse, a first-degree felony.
"The defendant, in this matter, admitted to handling his infant daughter with less than ideal care, noting that he squeezed her, bounced her vigorously and swung her by her torso. While the defendant reported that he didn't intentionally cause the victim's injuries, his actions say otherwise," prosecutors wrote in charging documents.
The investigation began in August when Taylorsville police were called to investigate a report of child abuse involving a 4-month-old girl who was taken to a local hospital "with leaking spinal fluid in her brain and two healing broken ribs on her right side," the charges state.
Gonzales told police that his daughter was being fussy so he tried to calm her down by "swinging" her around while holding her torso and "twirling her around quickly," charging documents state. "He also said that he bounced her on his knee vigorously while holding onto her chest and tossed (her) into the air, but 'not very high.'"
This made the infant cry more and she had a seizure shortly after, prosecutors say.
Detectives reviewed text messages sent about two weeks later between Gonzales and the girl's mother who told Gonzales to stop "grabbing her so fast" and "I'm starting to not believe your story about being accidental the way I've seen you … acting. If you keep this … up I will take her away and be the only primary parent," charging documents state.
The mother told Gonzales that she had been watching him through baby surveillance cameras.
"Following the victim's release from the hospital, the defendant was observed on the baby monitor handling the victim in a similar fashion that caused the initial injuries," the charges allege.
