ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An Albuquerque father is in jail after being charged with abusing his two-month-old son. Maron Gilmore was arrested last week after being accused of shaking his son and giving him bruises. Tuesday, prosecutors asked that Gilmore stay behind bars while the case plays out.
The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office says they arrested Gilmore because they were concerned about CYFD allowing the child back in the home while the abuse investigation was ongoing. “That, of course, was of great concern to the state given that the recommendation from the child abuse response team was to not place this child back in the home for concern that he would suffer additional abuse and potentially death,” says Assistant District Attorney Rebekah Reyes.
According to a criminal complaint, BCSO started investigating Maron Gilmore back in December after the child was hospitalized for seizures. That’s when medical staff noticed a bruise on his hip, hemorrhages in both eyes, and a brain bleed that indicated he had been shaken.
The child was then put into CYFD custody, but not for long. Before BCSO’s investigation was done, they say CYFD put the boy back into his father’s care. BCSO says that’s why they issued an arrest warrant last Thursday.
Gilmore’s defense attorney argued that if CYFD didn’t have an issue with Gilmore being with the child, then neither should the judge. But prosecutors argued that it would be a mistake to give Gilmore a second chance.
“Unfortunately, we see this from CYFD time and time again. Where they place a child back in the home where they know the child has been abused and we later end up seeing that child either injured again or deceased,” says Reyes.
The judge granted the prosecutor’s request to hold Gilmore behind bars pending trial, but she also requested more information about the CYFD case. The DA’s offices say the judge scheduled another hearing to revisit Gilmore’s detention in early March.
