Father Sentenced to 7 Years for Abusing Son

An Arleta man was sentenced Thursday to seven years in state prison for causing permanent brain damage to his young son by severely shaking him, according to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.

Margarito Cruz, 25, was convicted March 19 for shaking and causing permanent brain damage to his son, Uriel, who was 13 months old during the 1997 incident. The San Fernando Superior Court jury deliberated less than two hours before finding Cruz guilty of child abuse, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles district attorney’s office.

“He got some substantial time behind bars, but we would have liked to see him get more,” Gibbons said. “This little boy is never going to grow up the way he should have because of this man.”

The boy may never progress past the mental age of a 13-month-old, Gibbons said. Doctors at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles who treated Uriel testified that the shaking resulted in the worst case of brain damage they had ever treated.

Under 1997 sentencing laws, the maximum sentence Cruz faced was 11 years in prison. State law now allows for a maximum life sentence with the possibility of parole in such severe child abuse cases, Gibbons said.