Local News in Brief : Pacoima Man to Stand Trial in Abuse of Girlfriend’s Baby

A Pacoima man has been charged with abusing his girlfriend’s infant son, who was left partially paralyzed, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said Tuesday.

Saul Flores Salcedo, 22, was ordered Monday to stand trial on felony child endangerment charges stemming from four instances in which Daniel Ortiz, now 1, suffered a broken leg, a broken arm, a deep bite wound in the chest and six deep head cuts.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge Michael Harwin ordered Salcedo, being held in County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail, to appear Dec. 7 for arraignment in Superior Court. If convicted, Salcedo faces a maximum sentence of 16 years in prison.

The head wounds left the baby--who was abused once in April and three times in June--

paralyzed on his left side, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Andrew W. Diamond. The baby is now in a foster home, he said.

The child’s mother, Maria Ortiz, 22, of Pacoima, pleaded guilty last week to child endangerment charges for tolerating the abuse, Diamond said. Her sentencing is scheduled today, but prosecutors are expected to seek a delay until after Salcedo’s trial.

Police arrested the couple in July after a social worker observed the baby’s head wounds and noticed that he was semi-conscious and foaming at the mouth, the prosecutor said.