Cape Coral police arrested a man for abusing a five month-old girl and putting her in the hospital, according to police reports.
Jose Santos, Viera, 27, of Cape Coral, was arrested on a count of cruelty toward a child and remains in custody at the Lee County Jail.
The man was arrested around 9 p.m. Thursday, the same day Lee Memorial HealthPark officials reported a mother had taken her 5-month-old daughter to the hospital with hemorrhaging around the child’s eyes.
An emergency room physician was contacted and then reported possible abuse to police, according to an arrest report. Police spoke with the mother, who said she first noticed marks on the child on Wednesday. She denied hurting the child, reports show.
Police then interviewed Viera, describing to him signs the child showed signs of suffocation. Viera told them “It’s my fault, I put my hand over her mouth,” and said the child had awakened in the night.
Viera said he would stay with a cousin while the Department of Children and Families investigated the abuse in order to ensure the girl was not taken out of the home.
But after consulting again with physicians and being told there were signs of repeated abuse, police arrested Viera, reports show.
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