A 7-year-old Cottonwood boy whose plight brought tears to the eyes of countless north state residents has been released from UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and placed into foster care, a sergeant with the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said today.

Sgt. Lisa Shearman confirmed that the child has been discharged from the hospital and placed into foster care, but could not provide any further details.
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Meanwhile, the boy’s father has also been sentenced to 16 months in prison after pleading guilty last week to an unrelated crime.
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A sheriff's investigative report, which was made public Tuesday, describes the horrific injuries Rachel Limon allegedly inflicted upon the boy, known as Junior, including possibly burning his nipples and breaking six ribs. The child also suffered a collapsed lung, the sheriff's report said.
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Limon denied ever having burned the child, although she did admit to digging her fingers into his chest, punching him, tossing him out the back door onto the deck with a 1-foot drop-off and grabbing him on his face and neck.

"Rachel admitted she knew what she did was wrong" and kept him out of school due to his visible injuries, the report said. She also said that she failed to seek medical help for him, it added.

It's believed the boy would have died within 24 hours without medical treatment, the report said.

According to the sheriff's report, the boy was found Friday inside Limon's Rhonda Road residence on a pullout mattress without sheets or blankets and with only about 12 inches exposed on which to sleep.

The boy, who was in severe pain and could barely move, had numerous abrasions and bruises on his face, torso and legs and had difficulty breathing, the report said.

It also said that he suffered extensive bruising to his genitals and pelvic area.

When asked who had hurt him, the boy said, "I did it to myself," the sheriff's report said.
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"He's not completely out of the woods yet, but I understand that he is expected to recover," Hanna said.

The father of a 7-year-old Cottonwood boy who was severely beaten has been arrested by Shasta County sheriff's officials, relatives said Sunday.

But he was not arrested on charges connected with the alleged assault.

Javier Ibarra Lopez, 29, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of allegedly failing to appear in Superior Court on assault and other charges unrelated to the child's beating, as well as for allegedly being in the country illegally.

A $75,000 bench warrant was issued for him in April 2007, according to electronic Superior Court records

Lopez remains in custody in Shasta County jail without bail, but it could not be learned Sunday if he might be a suspect in the beating case or if any additional charges may be filed against him.

Gregory Matthew Limon, 22, admitted that he knew about some of the alleged abuse. Gregory Limon was arrested on suspicion of willful harm or injury to a child