| For Immediate Release Case # 05SF0012
April 22, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
FATHER CONVICTED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING AND PHYSICALLY ABUSING HIS 4-WEEK-OLD BABY BOY
*Baby’s mother was convicted of four counts of child abuse
SANTA ANA – A father was convicted today of sexually assaulting and physically abusing his 4-week-old baby boy in their Lake Forest home. Andrew David Fusco, 23, was found guilty of four felony counts of child abuse, two felony counts of sexual penetration by foreign object by force, and two felony counts of the aggravated assault of a child with a true finding on the sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to a child under five. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years to life plus an additional 18 years at his sentencing on June 28, 2008 in Department C-39, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. The case was tried before the Honorable Marc Kelly in a court trial.
Baby Doe’s mother Megan Michelle Martinez, 22, pleaded guilty on June 18, 2007 to four felony counts of child abuse. She was sentenced December 20, 2007 to six years in state prison.
Baby Doe was born December 4, 2004. Between December 28, 2004 and January 3, 2005, Fusco physically and sexually assaulted Baby Doe and injuries to the baby including multiple fractures to the arms, legs, and ribs, bruising to the cheeks and abdomen, bleeding in the eyes, abrasions to the scrotum, swelling around the anus, a swollen and lacerated rectum, and extensive injury to the mouth with a severe tear to the upper lip and gum. Fusco also bit Baby Doe, leaving approximately 30 bite marks.
On January 3, 2005, Fusco and Martinez took Baby Doe to the hospital and lied to the doctors about the nature of the baby’s injuries. They told doctors the family cat had scratched the baby boy. Doctors examined the baby and discovered Baby Doe had suffered severe blunt force trauma injuries.
Martinez, Fusco’s girlfriend, was convicted of child abuse for putting her baby in danger by allowing Fusco to continue abusing the child. Baby Doe is no longer in the custody of Fusco and Martinez and has been adopted by an Orange County family.
Senior Deputy District Jeff Winter of the Family Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.
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