BLOOMFIELD, N.M. (KRQE) –  Authorities say an infant is in critical condition with more than two dozen broken bones and a cut to her throat. Now her father is facing charges.

On Oct. 24, Bloomfield Police were called to a house because a girl less than three months old was not breathing. The child, in critical condition, was rushed to UNMH because of the extent of her injuries.


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Police say her father, 34-year-old Joseph Bresch, is now charged with first-degree felony child abuse. A doctor at UNMH told police the cut on the girl’s throat had to be done with a very sharp instrument or ligature.

The girl’s mother says Bresch kept razor blades on him and told police the incident happened while she went inside a store. The only other person in the car with Bresch at the time was the woman’s five-year-old son who he tried to blame the injuries on.

However, the police didn’t buy that claim. The girl also had about 30 broken bones including fractures in both of her arms. According to the affidavit, the doctor said she was put on a ventilator but believed she would survive.

Bresch and the girl’s mother had already been under investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in another case. Both parents were arrested on a federal warrant after the new allegations surfaced.

So far, only Joseph Bresch appears to be charged with child abuse in this case. In New Mexico, Bresch has been arrested two other times over the last year including for false imprisonments and embezzlement of a motor vehicle.