Man accused of injuring girlfriend’s 2-year-old son

Police arrested a Las Cruces man after his girlfriends’s 2-year-old was found with injuries to various parts of his body.

19-year-old Tezcatlipoca “Tez” Soto is charged with two counts of Abuse of a Child after authorities were dispatched to Mountain View Regional Medical Center Saturday, July 1.

Officials say Soto has been in a relationship with the victim’s mother, Sarahi Martinez, for about two years. He is not related to the child.

Courts documents state Soto took care of the victim while Martinez was at work and was bathing the child on Thursday, June 29, when the abuse allegedly occurred.

Soto stated the victim got soap in his eye and began to cry uncontrollably, making Soto angry.

Authorities say Soto placed the boy’s face on the ground and pushed the child’s face into the bathroom tile.

Martinez, in an interview with LCPD, stated Soto told her that “she was not going to like what she saw” when she saw the child.

Court documents say that the victim had bruising and abrasions to his face and legs, consistent with being stuck or slapped by either a hand or another object.

The child also had a circular injury above his genitalia, which courts documents allege are consistent with a cigarette burn.

The boy’s mother told police she did not report the alleged abuse for fear she would be blamed for the boy’s injuries, court documents state.

The mother has not been charged.