Police: 3-year-old brutally assaulted in Ellenville

ELLENVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) - The Ellenville Police Department has arrested a 23-year-old man from Middletown, who they say brutally assaulted a three-year-old child. At 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 3, Ellenville Police responded to assist on a medical call at 6 David Street in Ellenville. Upon arrival, officers found a three-year-old boy with numerous abrasions on his face and head and bleeding from the inside of his ear.

The child also had a shoe print on the side of his head, police said, among other injuries. He was taken to Ellenville Community Hospital, and then transferred to Westchester Medical Center where he remains and is being treated for a fractured skull and a burst eardrum.

As a result of this incident, an investigation was immediately launched with help from the Ellenville Police Department's Family Violence Unit and the Ulster County District Attorney's Office. The suspect in the case was arrested initially, charged with violating an order of protection, and was remanded to the Orange County Jail on a warrant for a probation violation.

Friday morning, the suspect, identified by police as Markis Herrera, was taken into custody at the Orange County Jail as a result of an order to produce, and he was taken back to the Village of Ellenville where he was charged with two counts of second-degree felony assault, and endangering the welfare of a child.

Herrera was arraigned and sent back to the Orange County Jail on $200,000 cash, or one million dollars property bond. He is scheduled to appear on Tuesday, July 12, at 4:00 p.m. for a preliminary hearing at Ellenville Village Court.