Trial begins in child abuse case
Santa Fe man accused of hurting girlfriend’s son, faces up 18 years in prison
SANTA FE — A young Santa Fe toddler was just days away from his Mickey Mouse-themed second birthday party in September 2015 when he sustained brain injuries that required him to be flown to University of New Mexico Hospital and later caused him to have a stroke.
The trial for the man charged with causing those injuries, 28-year-old Benjamin Maes, started Monday in Santa Fe District Court and is scheduled to last through the end of the week.
Maes faces up to 18 years in prison on one count of child abuse causing great bodily harm for allegedly causing seri- ous injury to his girlfriend’s son, who has since undergone both speech and physical therapy.
Prosecutor Blake Nichols said in opening arguments that Maes hurt the boy just before his mother came home at the Tuscany at St. Francis apartments near St. Francis Drive and Siringo Road on Sept. 15, 2015.
The child had brain injuries that paralyzed the right side of his body. He was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center before being airlifted to UNMH. The bloodclots from the brain injuries caused him to have a stroke days later, Nichols said.
Defense attorney Hans Erickson said in his opening arguments that Maes did not hurt the boy and that the child suffers from a medical condition that makes his blood clot easily. “(The victim) had a stroke, and children have strokes like adults do,” Erickson said.
The boy’s mom said in court Monday that Maes had told her by phone while she was coming home that evening that her son was throwing up and was “freaking him out.” When she got home she said she went to the child’s room and saw her son laying on the floor.
“His eyes were really tightly closed and he seemed to be having a seizure, and I noticed a red mark on his forehead,” she said. “I picked him up in my arms, and then he seemed to stop breathing.”
A Santa Fe paramedic who
was on the scene, Robert Desatoff, testified that the boy’s right arm and leg weren’t moving and that his right arm was in a “fixed position.” He also said the boy was hysterical when medics tried to treat him. “He was crying at the top of his lungs,” Desatoff said.
Maes was arrested shortly after police arrived. He called the boy’s mother from the Santa Fe County jail. That phone call was played in court.
“You know I would never do something like that,” Maes said. “I’ve done nothing but love you guys. I wanted to adopt the kids.”
“All I know is that you were the last person with him, and now he’s in the hospital with brain damage,” the woman responded.
Maes has been out of jail on a $25,000 surety bond.