PORTLAND, Ore. – A Portland-area man was sentenced Thursday to more than 10 years in prison for punching his 20-month-old son in the stomach, causing life-threatening internal injuries.
Joseph Washington, convicted earlier this month by a Multnomah County jury, was sentenced to 121 months in prison. He was found guilty of first-degree assault for causing serious physical injury to a child under the age of six, as well as third-degree assault and first-degree criminal mistreatment.
The incident occurred April 4th, 2024, at a home in Southeast Portland. According to court documents, Washington struck the toddler hard enough to perforate the child’s small intestine, causing bile to back up into his digestive system. A physician testified the injury was likely fatal if left untreated overnight.
Prosecutors said Washington initially ignored the severity of the child’s symptoms and attempted to convince the child’s mother to let him sleep it off. Instead, she took the child to the hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Investigators said Washington later admitted to his girlfriend that he had punched the toddler twice because the child was “bothering him.”
Washington’s criminal history includes multiple prior convictions, including a 2010 federal conviction for sex trafficking, as well as domestic violence and assault charges in Washington, Multnomah, and Clackamas counties.
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