A Homestead man subjected his autistic 4-year-old son to 25 minutes of abuse on Thursday afternoon, leading to his arrest on a felony charge, according to police.Authorities said it happened at around 3:30 p.m. in the 900 block of Northeast 33rd Terrace.According to an arrest report from the Homestead Police Department, the beating began after the boy ― who is non-verbal ― screamed, which the child’s mother said he does when he wants something.Police said Martinez, 31, asked his son “what was wrong with him and shortly after, the light of the bedroom was turned off.”“A noise that appeared to sound like (Martinez) was striking the victim with an open hand could be heard,“ the HPD report states. ”Shortly after, (he) escorted the victim out of the bedroom while simultaneously spanking him with an open hand.”Then, as the boy sat on a sofa crying, police said Martinez came out with a belt.Police said Martinez “violently” threw his son on the sofa and began hitting him with the belt “multiple times.”Martinez walked away as the boy cried, screamed and hit himself, but came back to slap him multiple times, police said.According to the report, he left and came back with the belt and beat the child more, then left and returned again to continue the beating.Police said the young boy “ended up on the floor,” at which point he “violently picked up the victim and threw him onto the sofa and continued hitting him with the belt multiple times.”“(Martinez) then escorted the victim to his bedroom and pushed him onto his bed and began hitting the bed with the belt while yelling at the victim to stop crying,” the report states.
“(Martinez) left the bedroom and returned and he violently turned the victim over and struck him with an open hand.”Police said the boy “suffered abrasions and red marks on his upper thighs” and said in-home surveillance video confirmed the abuse, as well as its nearly half-hour duration.Authorities arrested Martinez on a charge of child abuse causing no great bodily harm. As of Friday afternoon, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center with a bond listed in online records as “to be set.” .l10-neighborhood, .l10-neighborhood * { box-sizing: border-box; } .l10-neighborhood{ --blue-dark:#0d2c73; --blue:#1f57c4; --blue-light:#3370e6; --gray-bg:#f2f3f5; --gray-border:#d6d8dc; --text-dark:#1a1a1a; …
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