SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A man is facing child abuse charges after the 18-month-old and three-year-old children he was watching were taken to the hospital to have their injuries examined, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Alexander Liborio, 22, was arrested on one count of aggravated child abuse intentionally or knowingly, a second-degree felony, and one count of child abuse with injury, intentional or knowing, which is a class A misdemeanor.
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According to the affidavit, Liborio was watching his roommate’s children while she was working a graveyard shift. When the mother returned on the morning of Aug. 18, officers said another roommate showed her the markings on the children.
The 18-month-old child had a bruise and red marks on her forehead and bruising on her eyes, as well as a bloody nose. According to the affidavit, medical staff were concerned that the child had a skull fracture, but lab results were still pending at the time the document was filed.
The three-year-old child also had bruising on her face and forehead, documents said.
Around 5 a.m., a housemate reportedly heard “what sounded like the baby fall off the living room couch,” documents said. Around that time, Liborio got up to take care of the baby, but the affidavit said the baby’s crying did not stop and the three-year-old was “scared and whimpering.”
Documents said the housemate heard Liborio “getting upset with the children and aggressively trying to quiet the kids” before they went out to bring the children to their bedroom. The three-year-old told the housemate Liborio hit her in the face, according to the affidavit.
Liborio and another roommate were reportedly drinking the night of the incident and were intoxicated. Liborio told officers he did not know what happened that night because of how much he drank.
He said he normally watches the children when their mother goes to work. He woke up the next morning to other housemates “yelling about marks on the kids” and thought he had left the kids in the care of other roommates, according to documents.
The kids were taken to a children’s hospital after the incident, and Liborio was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on the aforementioned charges.
Charges are allegations only. All arrested persons are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.