A 39-year-old El Paso County man has been charged with severely beating his 15-year-old son last Sunday.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Department said that Jeremiah Lovato has been charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault, felony child abuse and menacing.
The department said an investigation showed that Lovato repeatedly hit his son with what was described as a “blunt object”.
Deputy Teresa Murphy, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s department, said that the boy was beaten with a stick.
“It was very severe,” said Murphy.
She said the boy was living alone with his father.
Murphy said the department is not releasing any information on the child’s condition.
Lovato, who is being held at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center on $250,000 bond, has no other children, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department.
The investigation is ongoing and detectives are working closely with the Department of Human Services concerning child custody issues, where the boy’s closest relatives live and where he should be placed, said Murphy.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
