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A Delaware County judge sentenced a Muncie man to 35 years in prison Friday after he admitted to several 2020 incidents of child abuse involving a three year-old child.
Delaware County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. sentenced Antonio Riviera-Manship, 28, to the lengthy prison terms.
Rivera-Manship pleaded guilty in November to two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in catastrophic injury, both Level 1 felonies, and one count of aggravated battery as a Level 3 felony.
Deputy Prosecutor Lexi Starost asked the court to impose a maximum of 40 years in prison, according to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Muncie police responded to an Oct. 8, 2020 call of a three year-old boy who had reportedly fallen down the stairs and was unconscious.
The child was transported by EMS to Ball Memorial Hospital and subsequently airlifted to Riley Hospital for Children due to the severity of his injuries, which included two subdermal brain bleeds.
Rivera-Manship was the only adult home with the child at the time of the 911 call.
He initially claimed the child must fallen backwards down the stairs, but later acknowledged to police that he lied about the incident.
Rivera-Manship told police he got in argument with the child over what the child should eat, became overwhelmed and forced the child backwards down the stairs.
An examination of his phone showed Rivera-Manship called the child’s mother at 7:22 p.m. that night and waited until 7:35 p.m. to call the police.
He also confessed to several other abusive incidents involving the child over the previous two months, according to court documents.
After the sentencing hearing, Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Hoffman said in a release: “Child abuse will not be tolerated in Delaware County. Make no mistake about it, Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma is one of the worst forms of physical abuse. Violently shaking a child can and often does cause serious, catastrophic, and irreversible brain damage.”
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