California Dad Accused Of Doing Something Awful To Infant

A California dad is accused of violently abusing his three-month-old son, and Opposing Views says that the little baby may not survive the attack. Authorities in Santa Ana arrested 20-year-old Jordan Mendez on Friday after they were called to his residence. They were responding to a report that a child wasn’t breathing in the home, but what they discovered was of immediate concern.

The three-month-old baby boy was rushed to a nearby children’s hospital after emergency officials performed CPR on the little one. The baby was reportedly not breathing when authorities arrived. Once the infant was taken to the hospital, staff noticed clear signs of trauma on his body that were indicative of abuse. The Daily Mail reports that the infant is currently on life support, and is not expected to live after he was presumably beaten by his 20-year-old father.

The California dad has been charged with assault on a child causing great bodily injury/death. However, this charge could be upgraded or more charges could be tacked on in the future — especially if the unidentified infant passes away like authorities and medical professionals believe.

Sadly, child abuse isn’t an uncommon criminal act in the United States, with more than 3 million cases reported annually. In fact, every 10 seconds, someone reports child abuse to authorities, and in most of those cases the abuse is being committed by parent or guardian to the victim. In the state of California alone, children under one year of age account for 14% of child abuse cases. With that said, it should be noted that Jordan Mendez’s arrest is far from the first of its kind in California this year.

In April a California dad was arrested when surveillance footage in a convenience store caught him punching his toddler in the face. The surveillance footage even became a viral video that sparked outrage online. Also this year, a California mom was caught on video smacking her crying child with a tablet. That video also went viral. Fortunately the children in the aforementioned stories all survived their abusive situations. Meanwhile, a three-month-old infant is currently on life support and is not expected to live.

At this time there are no updates on the condition of the unnamed baby — nor have any updates been made about the arrest of Jordan Mendez. It’s hopeful that authorities can get to the bottom of what happened, however, so that justice can be served for the tiny victim.

Photo: Santa Ana Police mugshot/Jordan Mendez