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WILKES-BARRE TWP. – A township man was arraigned Thursday after a 10-year-old boy described being punched and beaten with a belt and a curtain rod for years.
The boy told authorities some of the beatings came after asking for help with homework.
Reynaldo Dorance Sauceda, 31, of Center Street, was charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of children and one count each of aggravated assault and terroristic threats. He was arraigned by District Judge Michael Dotzel in Wilkes-Barre Township and released on $20,000 unsecured bail.
According to the criminal complaint:
Luzerne County Children and Youth Services notified township police in October that a child reported being assaulted by Sauceda.
The boy was interviewed at the Luzerne County Children’s Advocacy Center where he claimed Sauceda often choked, punched and struck him with a belt that has white spikes, the complaint says.
Police allege in the complaint the boy remembered Sauceda first assaulted him when he was 6-years-old.
Whenever the boy mentioned his mother, Sauceda would beat him with a belt or a curtain rod and would strike the dog if the dog tried to protect the boy, the complaint says.
The boy allegedly claimed he was beaten when he asked Sauceda for help with homework, or whenever he forgot clothes at his mother’s house.
Sauceda allegedly told the boy that the boy’s mother was the devil and would like to choke the mother until the mother took her last breath, according to the complaint.
The boy alleged Sauceda went out with friends leaving him unsupervised, and would not wake up in time to take the boy to school.
Child caseworkers noted the boy had injuries to his hip, legs and buttocks areas.