A man working as a home health aide on Long Island was caught on camera violently hitting a young child with disabilities, officials said Thursday.
Bruno Valenzuela, 34, of Brentwood, is accused of “forcefully slapping” a 5-year-old boy in the chest while he was under his care, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a press release.
Valenzuela was arraigned Thursday on charges of first-degree endangering the welfare of a person with disabilities, a felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.
At the time of the incident late last year, Valenzuela worked at a Port Jefferson Station home caring for the victim, who has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and developmental delays. Prosecutors described the boy as “nonverbal and nonambulatory,” saying he requires 24-hour care.
An investigation into the home health aide’s conduct began on Dec. 22, after the boy’s father noticed red marks and bruises on his son’s chest and arms.
After reviewing footage from monitoring cameras set up in the child’s room, the father, who has not been publicly identified, saw a terrifying incident of violence against his son, which had taken place two days earlier, according to authorities.
The video allegedly shows Valenzuela changing the child’s diaper when the boy began to cry. The home health aide then “slapped him with full force in the chest, telling the child to ‘chill the [expletive] out,’” prosecutors said.
The beating allegedly occurred multiple times, intensifying the boy’s crying.
When the child didn’t settle down, Valenzuela allegedly picked him up and “squeezed him against his chest, saying, ‘Are you gonna calm down?’” He then “shook the boy and repeatedly tossed him in the air,” prosecutors said.
Valenzuela pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance Thursday and was released under nonmonetary conditions, online court records show.
Judge Steven Pilewski placed him on supervised release with GPS monitoring, as his charges are considered non-bail-eligible under New York State law.
He’s expected back in court on March 5.
