Police say a Schuylkill County man broke the femur of his girlfriend’s daughter last year when he dropped a bed on her leg.
According to court documents, State Police-Frackville received a Childline Referral on Jan. 8 regarding an incident that allegedly occurred back on Dec. 17, 2024, in Coaldale.
Police say a physician’s assistant at St. Luke’s Miners Memorial Hospital in Coaldale reported a 20-month-old had been treated at the ER for right leg pain. An X-ray of the leg reportedly revealed a fractured right femur. The medical professional said it would take a lot of force to break a femur.
After the fracture was revealed on the X-ray, the child was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem for surgery to repair the damaged bone.
On Jan. 9, police say they conducted an interview with the victim’s mother and her boyfriend, Eliezel Hernandez, 21, of Coaldale. During that interview, police say neither person could provide a “conclusive explanation” as to how the toddler had broken her femur.
Several weeks later, after police had gotten medical records which confirmed the fracture and the surgery to repair it, Hernandez was once again questioned about the broken leg.
During a polygraph exam, police say Hernandez showed signs of deception when questioned about the injury. And in a follow-up interview after the polygraph test, Hernandez reportedly provided more details about what allegedly happened to cause the child’s femur to be fractured.
On the night of Dec. 17, 2024, Hernandez reportedly woke up to the sound of the toddler and her brother playing and he was in a “bad mood” at the time. Hernandez said the brother, earlier that day, had his leg caught in a hole in the floor.
To cover the holes in the floor that night, Hernandez said he told the children to get out of bed so he could move the bed over the holes. The children were standing at the foot of the bed while he picked the bed up about two feet in the air, he made a “quick motion” and the bed landed on the victim’s leg. Hernandez denied throwing the bed and hitting the child.
The toddler began crying after this happened. Hernandez then told police that he and his girlfriend then placed the toddler in the shower but he did not tell her what had happened to make the girl cry. Eventually, they put her in bed. The next morning, Hernandez realized that the leg was broken.
Police say on Feb. 19, they interviewed an orthopedic surgeon with St. Luke’s in Bethlehem. The surgeon reportedly told police that he was suspected abuse was possible in this case because of the fracture pattern on the femur. He said the “transverse” fracture of the femur is not typical in a child that age and was likely caused by direct impact to the bone.
Last week, police filed a felony aggravated assault charge against Hernandez along with a misdemeanor for simple assault, and a summary charge of harassment.
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