Indiana man charged with punching 7-year-old boy with Down syndrome in the face multiple times

From WLFI-TV:

LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A Lafayette man is accused of hitting a disabled seven-year-old child multiple times.

The Tippecanoe County Prosecutor charged 30-year-old Cesar Arenas with Battery on a Child and Battery on a Disabled Person.

Court document said officers from the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Department were called to a domestic disturbance on Priest Drive on August 8, 2009. The officer found a young boy who suffers from Down syndrome with two black eyes.

According to the Affidavit of Probable Cause submitted to the court, Arenas told police that he had struck the boy to get his attention because the boy was not eating.

The affidavit states that police summoned an ambulance to the scene, and that ambulance workers advised police that the child appeared to have been struck at least twice. The affidavit also stated that the boy had bruising around both eyes, as well as additional bruising and a mark above the his right eye.

Court records show Arenas is on bond on another case relating to Fraud and Counterfeiting. They also state Arenas was not a legal alien. Police said Arenas has used the name Cesar Moreno in the past.