An Oregon man has been sentenced to ten years in prison after nearly killing his 20-month-old son by punching him in the stomach, which led to a rupture in the child’s small intestine.

Joseph Washington received a 121-month prison sentence on Friday following his conviction for first-degree assault by a jury earlier this month. As reported by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office, the assault took place on April 4, 2024, in Portland. The prosecutors highlighted that the child’s mother, who had custody, was no longer in a relationship with Washington.

Washington occasionally cared for the child while the mother worked and was watching the boy at his girlfriend’s residence. When the child began “throwing up significantly,” as stated by prosecutors, Washington informed his ex-girlfriend of the situation.

Despite the mother’s insistence to take the boy to the hospital, Washington failed to do so and instead delivered the child to her. Sensing the gravity of the situation, she immediately took him to the emergency room.

“The boy needed immediate surgery after a perforation in his intestine led to fluid and air leaking into his abdomen,” prosecutors stated. Medical professionals assessed the injury and concluded it was due to blunt force trauma, raising serious concerns about child abuse.

The boy’s injuries would have made it impossible to eat or hold down food as the intestine was flooding bile into the digestive system.

Washington eventually admitted to the mother of the child that the boy was “bothering him that night,” which led him to become angry and strike the child twice in the stomach.

“The defendant’s violence nearly killed this child,” said Deputy District Attorney Mihnea Moga who prosecuted the case. “Despite his attempts to ignore the child’s symptoms and persuading the mother to have the child go to sleep that night, her decision to take him to the hospital saved his life. The verdict in this case represents accountability for his gruesome behavior. Protecting children is what the community is tasked with, and I am thankful to the jury for reaching the proper conclusion and holding the defendant accountable in this case.”

Washington had an extensive criminal history which included assault, kidnapping and sex trafficking of children, according to prosecutors.