A Santa Ana mother has been accused of brutally beating her 5-week-old son, leaving him with 16 broken bones, including a fractured knee and skull.
Mirian Jimenez-Olivera, 34, was charged Thursday by the Orange County District Attorney's Office with repeatedly hitting the boy when he refused to stop crying.
She is accused of hitting the baby in the ribs, shoulders and arms when he cried on multiple occasions and roughly pulling his leg while changing his diaper, according to the district attorney's office. The abuse by Jimenez-Olivera allegedly began when the child was two weeks old, prosecutors say.
The baby's father, Edgar Busto-Rodriguez, 35, has also been accused of being an accessory to trying to cover up his wife's alleged abuse when he lied to police about how his son was injured.
Authorities learned of the abuse when the boy was taken to Children's Hospital of Orange County on Monday. The parents took him to seek care when the baby did not move his left arm, according to the district attorney.
During the hospital visit, doctors discovered that the baby had 16 broken bones, including a fractured skull, knee, elbow, finger and ribs.
“A mother's arms should be the safest place for a newborn, fiercely protecting him from the world, but for [this baby] “His mother’s arms were weapons of violence that systematically helped break his small bones into tiny pieces because he wouldn’t stop doing what every newborn does: cry,” the Orange County District Court said. Lawyer. Todd Spitzer.
“No child should be brought into this world and subjected to unimaginable pain, and then left to suffer in silence, not knowing when the next time their mother will lash out in anger and break another rib or break another bone.”
Spitzer praised the hospital staff “who rescued this helpless baby from the hell he was born into.”
Jimenez-Olivera was charged with 11 felony counts of child abuse. He faces a maximum sentence of 42 years in state prison if she is convicted of all charges.
Busto-Rodriguez was charged with felony accessory after the fact. He faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
The parents have pleaded not guilty and are being held in custody on $1 million bail each.
