Iraq War veteran charged after surveillance shows repeated abuse of 6-year-old stepson in Florida

 A 42-year-old Iraq War veteran is facing aggravated child abuse charges after prosecutors say home surveillance footage captured him violently assaulting his 6-year-old stepson.

Zachary Perez, a former U.S. Marine, is accused of repeatedly punching the boy with a closed fist, kicking him, and hurling obscenities at him, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office.

Video evidence allegedly shows multiple instances of abuse. In one clip, Perez appears to kick the child while yelling at him. Another reportedly captures him kicking the boy again. The arrest report claims Perez also punched the child in the face several times, leaving visible bruises.

Amanda Altman, CEO of child advocacy group Kristi House, called the abuse a nightmare for the young victim. She emphasized that signs of abuse aren’t always physical and often show up in a child's behavior — including acting out, social difficulties, and other age-inappropriate responses.

Prosecutors say Perez has a history of domestic violence, including past incidents involving his 14-year-old daughter. He has pleaded not guilty and has been ordered to have no contact with his stepson.

Perez is currently being held under supervision at a mental health facility, according to court records.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Man Accidentally Becomes Psychiatrist’s Receptionist

In what can only be described as a modern telecommunication comedy, a man named Daniel briefly found himself running the front desk of a psychiatrist’s clinic without warning, training, or pay. It all began when Daniel called the clinic to make an appointment. Later, when he tried to call them back, something odd happened: their number had been mysteriously redirected to his phone. “ This is a really weird question, ” Daniel recalled telling the receptionist when he finally reached them through another number. “ They said they’d heard it all, but this was a new one. ” The mix-up meant that for the next 24 hours, Daniel’s personal phone effectively became the official line for the clinic. Clients called. Voicemails piled up. Confusion reigned. “I deleted all the voicemails I got from their clients,” Daniel said. “But I let the clinic know about some of the people who had left me messages. They were so apologetic. Honestly, they were lovely about it, just very confused.” Eventually, the...
Read more

Christa Pike and the Murder of Colleen Slemmer

Image
Christa Pike was born in 1976 to Carissa Hansen and Emil Glenn Pike in Beckley, West Virginia. Her parents had a tumultuous relationship, being married for two years, divorced for a year after Hansen was found to be cheating, and remarried for another two years after Hansen attempted suicide. Both of them were frequently negligent. An aunt noted that infant Pike would be "crawling around through piles of dog stool all over the house," and that Hansen wanted to keep partying when she received news that her toddler was experiencing severe seizures. Pike's paternal grandmother would frequently help care for her; Pike believed she was the only one who ever loved her.   When her grandmother died in 1988, Pike would make her first suicide attempt at age 12, for which she received little support. Christa Pike appearing before Judge in Court Pike's living situation continued to be unstable throughout her teenage years as she was both the recipient, and perpetrator, of violen...
Read more

Police employee charged after violent brawl and milk-throwing incident at western Sydney Woolworths

Image
A police employee has been charged over a wild brawl that erupted inside a Woolworths supermarket in Auburn, Western Sydney. The confrontation broke out between two male shoppers around 1:20pm yesterday, starting with a shove, followed by a kick — before one man grabbed a two-litre bottle of full cream milk and swung it. The bottle exploded on impact, sending milk splashing across the store and drenching a cashier. "I feel bad for her the most," one witness told 9News. A woman accompanying one of the men also jumped in to defend him. "The wife’s a true one — my wife better do that for me too," a bystander said. "I was actually happy to see the wife jump in for the husband. I thought that was great," added another. Woolworths confirmed the incident, stating, "There’s no place for violence like this in our stores," and said they are cooperating fully with police investigations.
Read more