Man’s ‘whooping’ severely injures child, 4, police say
North Miami resident jailed without bond.
WEST PALM BEACH — A North Miami man is facing charges of aggravated child abuse and child neglect after his alleged “whooping” left a 4-year-old with liver and pancreas injuries, according to West Palm Beach police records.
Oberto Fiezemer, 35, was booked late Monday into the Palm Beach County Jail, months after he admitted to hitting a 4-year-old with a belt, records show. A judge ordered that he remain in jail without the possibility of posting bond as the case moves through the court system.
In February, Florida Department of Children and Families authorities contacted West Palm Beach police about a 4-year-old who was hospitalized with internal injuries as well as multiple bruises.
The child’s caregiver took the child to a hospital for a head injury that the child got on a playground, records state. The doctor noticed multiple bruises and scars across the child’s body that appeared to have been from physical abuse. The child also looked malnourished, the doctor noted.
The caretaker called Fiezemer, who was with the 4-year-old the previous day. He said he “whooped” the child because the child allegedly misbehaved at school. He said he had someone hold down the child’s leg and head so he could hit the child’s buttocks and thighs with a belt.
Florida law draws the line between discipline and abuse by looking at the caregiver’s intentions and the child’s injuries. If a child is uninjured by the physical discipline, the action is legal. But “inappropriate or excessively harsh” discipline, which likely will cause physical or emotional pain, is not.
The relationship between the child and Fiezemer is redacted from police records, as is the child’s relation- ship with the caretaker. It is unclear where in the city the alleged abuse occurred.
Records show the child and three other kids were removed from their mother’s home last year due to allegations of violence in the house. A DCF case manager told the caregiver the kids could not be around Fiezemer because someone alleged he bit the children.
Records indicate Fiezemer has had three stints in state prison over the past 15 years, the most recent of which stemmed from burglary and theft cases in Miami-Dade County. He last was released from prison in 2015, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.