Grandma noticed bruises on boy’s legs at school pickup, cops say. Now man pleads guilty

A 29-year-old is going to prison after pleading guilty to child abuse and to battery of a police officer, New Mexico officials said.

Alfonso Villareal Perez of Portales pleaded guilty to abusing his girlfriend’s 7-year-old son, according to a news release by the Ninth Judicial District Attorney.

In February 2022, Perez got angry with the 7-year-old boy and beat him with a Louis Vuitton belt, prosecutors said.

When the boy’s grandmother picked him up at school days later, she noticed bruising on the child’s legs, arms and head and reported the abuse, officials said.

While awaiting his trial, Perez forced himself to vomit inside his jail cell, officials said.

Officers weren’t able to get into Perez’s cell because he held the door shut, officials said.

Once they did get inside, he started to hit the three officers and knocked the taser out of one of their hands, prosecutors said.

Perez was sentenced to 19 ½ years in prison, officials said.

Due to the severity of the charges, Perez will be forced to serve 85% of his sentence — roughly 16 1/2 years — prosecutors said.

Portales is about a 230-mile drive southeast of Albuquerque.

This story was originally published June 3, 2024 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Grandma noticed bruises on boy’s legs at school pickup, cops say. Now man pleads guilty."