SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. — Editor's Note: Details in this story may be disturbing for some readers.
A Siloam Springs man is behind bars for allegedly beating a 3-year-old child, causing severe bruising all over the victim's body and two black eyes.
On May 11, Benton County deputies responded to a welfare check to home in Siloam Springs after receiving a tip that a child had bruises all over its body.
Once on scene, deputies spoke with the victim's mother, who told them about an incident in April.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the woman told police 23-year-old Rolando Obispo Jr. had abused the child while she was at a store and that she did not see the bruisings until the next day. She then said Rolando told her that if she reported the incident, she would lose her kid and she would be arrested for not reporting it along with her outstanding warrants. She said Rolando then admitted a week later that the injuries came when he was trying to change the child's diaper. The woman then said Rolando grabbed the child's face during another incident resulting in bruising.
Later that evening, deputies met with Rolando at the Siloam Springs Police Department and he was arrested.
He faces a first-degree battery charge and a second-degree battery charge for the alleged assaults.
Rolando is being held at the Benton County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
The child's mother, also an abuse victim, was arrested for endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting the abuse of a child.
