BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — A Siloam Springs man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for abusing his 3-month-old son.
Cristian Rolando Bernardino-Marriquin, 33, pleaded guilty last month in Benton County Circuit Court to first-degree battery.
Judge Brad Karren gave Bernardino-Marriquin a 10-year suspended sentence set to begin when Bernardino-Marriquin is released from the state Department of Correction.
Bernardino-Marriquin, who also owes more than $1,200 in court fees and fines, received 198 days credit for time served in the Benton County Jail.
Siloam Springs police were called to Siloam Springs Regional Hospital on April 24, 2018, after the boy arrived with injuries consistent with being shaken, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Bernardino-Marriquin at first told police he didn’t know how his son was injured. He said he picked him up from the babysitter around midnight and went home to feed him.
Bernardino-Marriquin said his son vomited blood while trying to feed him, so he took him to the hospital, according to the affidavit.
The boy was flown to St. Edwards Hospital in Tulsa, Okla, where doctors discovered he had an altered mental state, subdural hematoma, contusions on his back, retinal hemorrhages and continued seizures.
Bernardino-Marriquin told investigators he may have injured his son by accidentally banging his head against a plastic car seat. He later said he dropped him while tripping over a water bottle.
Doctors said the boy’s injuries were consistent with being shaken, not dropped, according to the affidavit.
