PROVO — A Provo man charged last week with abusing his stepdaughter is now accused of abusing his infant stepson after police were shown a picture of duct tape over the boy’s mouth.
Javier Alverdi-Ramirez, 20, was charged Dec. 9 in 4th District Court with child abuse, a second-degree felony.
In that case, a 1-year-old girl “suffered a head injury that resulted in loss of consciousness and vomiting,” according to charging documents. Doctors also discovered broken ribs and “fresh bruises all over her body” after she was taken to the hospital.
While police were investigating that case, the girl’s mother told detectives that she believed Alverdi-Ramirez also abused her 5-month-old son, according to a new Utah County Jail booking affidavit.
The woman told police that in October, the young boy was crying because he had lost his bottle. Alverdi-Ramirez went into his room and a short time later the infant stopped crying. But when the mother went into the room to see what had happened, she discovered that “Javier had used duct tape to tape the infant’s mouth shut so he would stop crying,” the affidavit states.
The mother took a picture before removing the tape from the boy’s mouth.
The woman initially shared the photo with Alverdi-Ramirez’s mother and “asked her for help to confront Javier about what he was doing,” according to the affidavit.
But Alverdi-Ramirez’s mother told the woman “it was funny and he was just doing it for a joke,” the affidavit states.
Alverdi-Ramirez was arrested Tuesday for investigation of felony child abuse for the duct tape incident. Police noted in their affidavit that additional incidents of domestic abuse were also still being investigated. The children’s mother filed for a protective order on Tuesday from Alverdi-Ramirez, according to court records.
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting the YWCA’s Women in Jeopardy program at 801-537-8600, or the confidential statewide Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online at udvc.org.