Honk News (Tarrant County, TX) – A man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after admitting guilt in a child abuse case from 2020.
Antonio Riviera-Manship, 28, has pleaded guilty to two counts of neglect of a dependent leading to serious injury and one count of aggravated battery, as stated in court documents from the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office.
On October 8, 2020, officers responded to a call at a home located in the 2400 block of West 10th Street. A report was received about a three-year-old boy who fell down the stairs and sustained two subdermal brain bleeds.
Child abuse experts present observed that the injuries appeared inconsistent with a “unprovoked fall down the stairs.”
During a police interview, Riviera-Manship confessed that he and the child’s mother were in a dispute over the child’s meal choices. Riviera-Manship became “overwhelmed,” which led to him pushing the three-year-old down the stairs.
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Riviera-Manship informed the police that he contacted the child’s mother at 7:22 p.m. that evening, but he did not call 911 until 7:35 p.m. He first mentioned that he “contacted 911 immediately within 5 minutes of discovering the child.”
Court documents reveal that Riviera-Manship had previously harmed the child. He had previously shaken the child, struck him on the stomach, thighs, and scrotum, and pinned him to the ground during playtime.
“Child abuse will not be tolerated in Delaware County,” said Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman. “Make no mistake about it, Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma is one of the worst forms of physical abuse.”