A one-year-and-nine-month-old boy from Caguas was taken to the Pediatric Hospital in Río Piedras to be evaluated for a blow to the ear, where doctors diagnosed six fractured ribs, as reported by El Vocero de Puerto Rico. The parents had initially asked that the evaluation be done through a video call, but the hospital told them they had to bring the child in person.
Medical exams determined the child had four fractured ribs on the right side and two on the left. The medical evaluation found the fractures already showed signs of healing, indicating they occurred some time earlier. A hospital social worker alerted the Caguas Police, the town where the child’s family lives.
The Department of the Family intervened in the case and took custody of the child, while agents from the Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Division of the Criminal Investigations Corps (CIC) of Caguas opened an investigation.