A 26-year-old Kindred, N.D., man faces a charge of child abuse following accusations he used a belt to hit his son.
Adalpe Leal made his first appearance Tuesday in Cass County District Court on the charge, a Class B felony carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
East Central District Judge Michael McGuire set bail for Leal at $5,000 cash or bond. The judge also ordered Leal have no contact with the boy and appointed attorney Steve Mottinger to represent Leal.
The next court appearance for Leal is a Dec. 5 preliminary hearing.
Court documents show Leal's 4-year-old son, who lives with his mother in Thief River Falls, Minn., told police there about the abuse Aug. 17.
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The boy's mother took her son to Thief River Falls police about 12 hours after Leal returned him from a custodial visit.
Craig Mattson, a juvenile investigator for the Police Department, interviewed the boy about the allegations.
"He immediately made the comment, 'Do you know what my dad did to me?'" Mattson wrote in a report.
The boy told the officer Leal forced his head under water in a bathtub and showed police a bruise on his thigh "from my dad's belt," Mattson wrote.
Police also interviewed the boy's mother, who told the police Leal told her he "lost it" and "I hit him on the side of the leg," documents state.
The police report was forwarded to the Cass County Sheriff's Department for investigation.
When he was arrested, there were two warrants for Leal's arrest on writing checks with insufficient funds in Moorhead and Detroit Lakes, Minn., documents state.
Previously, Leal has been convicted in Cass County for simple assault on a woman and violating a no contact order.
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Readers can reach Forum reporter Steven P. Wagner at (701) 241-5542
