Dad Ate My Eyes, Boy Tells Cops

California Dad Man With Drug Abuse History Jailed After Allegedly Torturing 4-Year-Old Son..

by Associated Press

Published: Tue, May 19, 2009 - 10:14 am CST Last Updated: Tue, May 19, 2009 - 10:16 am CST

(AP) A Bakersfield man with a history of drug abuse remained jailed Monday after allegedly biting out one of his 4-year-old son's eyes and mutilating the other.

Angel Vidal Mendoza, 34, has been charged with mayhem, torture, child cruelty and inflicting an injury to a child in the alleged attack on his son, Angelo Mendoza Jr. Bakersfield police said in a search warrant that the child told investigators "my daddy ate my eyes" and that Mendoza appeared to be under the influence of PCP following the April 28 incident.

After two neighbors found the injured child in the apartment he shared with his father, witnesses told authorities that a man in a wheelchair who turned out to be Mendoza was in the backyard of a nearby vacant home hacking his own legs with an ax, police said. Mendoza was arrested a week later.

Kern County Jail officials said they did not know whether he had hired an attorney, and online court records do not indicate whether he is represented. Mendoza is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, when a date for a preliminary hearing in the case is expected to be set.

Doctors at Mercy Hospital, where the boy is being treated, said it is unclear whether Angelo will regain vision in his right eye or be permanently blinded.

The case has raised questions about whether the child was being adequately monitored by Kern County's Child Protective Services department. Mendoza and the child's 23-year-old mother were charged with being under the influence of PCP in 2006 and pleaded no contest to child cruelty charges in that case, court records show.

Police said the mother, Desirae Marie Bermudez, was not present when the child's eyes were injured. There is a $15,000 warrant for her arrest for failing to complete a drug treatment program last year, according to court documents.

Mendoza has a criminal record going back to 1997 that includes convictions for selling alcohol to a minor, battery and check forgery.

Officials with Child Protective Services declined to comment on the case.

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mob1 Says:

Wed, May 20, 2009 at 9:20 am

This shows a flaw in our screwed up court systems in this country. Both parents were known Drug addicts and have a history of Child cruelty. What freaking Judge allowed these wanna be parents to keep their son in the first place.
We have Dang good fathers out there that fight tooth and nail for custody of childern, and these two psycho’s are allowed to keep this boy.

I have to say if anyone thinks these two idiots had a right to keep this boy after the first charge, I WILL NOT AGREE WITH YOU AT ALL. I could careless what the details were, the bottom line is they PLEADED NO CONTEST the first go around!

framkly Says:

Tue, May 19, 2009 at 2:26 pm

The bible says ” eye for a eye”.

southernbelle6913 Says:

Tue, May 19, 2009 at 12:31 pm

OK so my original post was removed. What I meant to say was these no good parents do not deserve to be fried. That would be way to kind to them. They should have never had gotten custody of this poor baby after their trouble in 2006.

rmseek1234 Says:

Tue, May 19, 2009 at 12:11 pm

And people want to protect criminals? Prime example of why not to. I will GLADLY adopt this little boy. God love him.

myopinion Says:

Tue, May 19, 2009 at 12:03 pm

Un-freakin’-real. Please find this boy a great home. Fry the ‘parent’-donors.

FLOWERCHILD Says:

Tue, May 19, 2009 at 11:48 am

He falls into the same category as Lam Luong. What a horrible story.

RNuts Says:

Tue, May 19, 2009 at 11:03 am

This is the most horrifying headline that I have ever read. I pray that the boy is young enough that the mental scars or this ordeal will not be bad for him. I know that he will not forget, but he has allot of time ahead of him for wounds to heal. I feel the same outrage now as I did for Lame Laung.