Woman accused of hitting girl with ‘lightsaber’ faces child abuse charges

A woman who prosecutors said admitted to breaking her boyfriend’s arm with a baseball bat twice is accused of hitting a girl with a toy lightsaber.

Julia Torres, 25, has been indicted on two charges of child abuse, a third-degree felony.

Torres’ 50-year-old boyfriend, James Anthony Collins, and the girl’s father, also faces two counts of child abuse.

According to a news release from Dona Ana Co. District Attorney Mark D’Antonio’s office, witnesses said Torres struck the 12-year-old girl with the handle of a toy lightsaber. The girl told her father about it but, according to the news release, he did nothing about it.

Torres denied hitting the girl but “admitted to having anger issues and using a baseball bat to break her boyfriend’s arm, twice,” stated the document.

Quoted on the news release, D’Antonio said, “Crimes against children are unacceptable. If convicted as charged, the couple could face up to three years behind bars for each third-degree felony.”

The alleged abuse happened in Vado between May 2014 and December, 2015. It is not clear when the investigation began.