Father sentenced to two years in prison for abusing his baby

   STILLWATER — A 29-year-old Stillwater man, who pleaded no contest to child abuse without an agreement with the prosecution regarding his penalty, has been given a two-year prison term followed by three years of probation for causing a traumatic injury to his 7-week-old infant’s head and brain by the use of force.

   Erwin Leonel Ba Choc had been jailed for more than a year on $300,000 bond prior to his sentencing in June by Payne County Associate District Judge Michael Kulling.

   Stillwater Police Officer Ricardo Inciarte wrote in an affidavit, “I was informed that a child under the age of two months had been brought into the emergency room with a severe traumatic head injury, and there was the suspicion of child abuse,” at the Stillwater Medical Center on May 21, 2025.

   After advising the infant’s father of his rights in Spanish, “I asked him to tell me what had happened, and he told me that the couple that watches his newborn baby had called him around 9:08 and 9:25 am, but because he was working, he was unable to call back until 11:07 am.

   “At this time, he was informed that something was wrong with his son; he was told that his son was not eating, and the left side of his face was swollen,” the affidavit said.

   At 1:02 pm, “Erwin missed another phone call,” from the male caregiver, who lives across the street and went over to the defendant’s house, the affidavit alleged.

   “Erwin stated that he had not gone to pick up his child because he had been changing clothes and then eating.

   “Erwin then transported his child to the SMC ER where the child had to be airlifted to OU Medical Center due to the extent of his injuries. Erwin denied any wrongdoing or his child sustaining any injuries while under his care,” the affidavit said.

   During a follow-up interview with the caregivers, “It was found that Erwin had been untruthful at multiple points of the initial interview with me,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.

   “It was brought up to my attention that after the birth of Erwin’s child, Erwin had wanted to leave him at the hospital. The child’s mother also abandoned the child with Erwin and left to an undisclosed location but kept in touch with Erwin,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.

   The male caregiver said, “he had sent pictures of the laceration to the child’s head on Saturday and asked Erwin if he was going to take him to the hospital. Erwin replied that the laceration had been caused by the baby’s nails.

   “The caregiver also stated that today when he and his wife were urging Erwin to take the child to the ER for medical treatment, Erwin told him that it was only a cold, and it was only after a lot of pressure from him that Erwin agreed to take the child to the ER,” the affidavit alleged.

   During a follow-up interview that evening at the police department, the baby’s father “admitted to me that he had accidentally and due to a lapse in judgment slapped his child on the side of the face. He initially insisted that when he was preparing the formula over the crib where his child was laying on, the plastic bottle slipped and struck his baby on the side of the head.

   “I confronted him multiple times with the fact that what he was telling me did not match the severity or marks of the injuries of his child. He finally told me that he had been tired and had woken up around 1 am this morning because his child was fussy, and he attempted to feed him, but the child refused.

   “At this point, Erwin told me that he had a lapse in judgment and slapped his child with his open hand on the left side of his face. He stated that his child began to cry but stopped within ten minutes after he picked him up and apologized for what he had done.

   “He also told me that when he picked him up from the crib, he kept pressing the cheek and orbital bone area of the child with his fingers because he was concerned that a bone could be broken. Erwin said that his child slept from 1 am to 6 am when he woke him up, fed him and took him to the caregivers’ residence for the day,” the officer alleged in his affidavit.