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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A man has pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony child abuse homicide charge in the death of a 9-year-old boy who was immersed up to his shoulders in ice water at a downtown Salt Lake City restaurant in July 2007.
Pedro Gaucin-Canales, who entered the plea last week, was a manager at the Melting Pot restaurant. The boy's older sister, Rebecca Hernandez-Velasco, 20, pleaded guilty to the same charge in September.
Both Gaucin-Canales, 37, and Hernandez-Velasco, who was a prep cook at the restaurant, have also pleaded guilty to second-degree felony obstructing justice for lying to police.
Prosecutors say Josue Contreras-Velasco died of hypothermia after he was put in a large trash can filled with ice water for 45 minutes as punishment.
The two defendants will be sentenced on May 1.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
