Oregon man sentenced for punching 20-month-old son, causing perforation of intestine

PORTLAND, Ore. (TCN) -- A man will spend a decade behind bars for striking his young son so hard that "the child nearly died."

The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office announced that on Aug. 28, a judge sentenced Joseph Washington to 10 years in prison after a jury previously convicted him of first-degree assault, third-degree assault, and first-degree criminal mistreatment. Prosecutors said he has previous convictions, including strangulation constituting domestic violence and fourth-degree assault constituting domestic violence in 2023, as well as sex trafficking of children or by force-fraud or coercion in 2010 and other assault convictions.

According to prosecutors, the 20-month-old victim's mother said she and the defendant were no longer together, but she would sometimes have him watch their son while she was at work.

On April 4, 2024, Washington was reportedly caring for his child at his girlfriend's home and said the boy "was throwing up significantly." The district attorney's office said Washington was told to bring his son to the hospital. Instead, he purportedly took him back to his mother, who rushed him to the hospital.

Prosecutors said the child required surgery after his intestine was perforated, and "fluid and air were leaking from his abdomen." Medical experts determined the victim suffered blunt force trauma. The treating physician reportedly testified and said if the boy hadn't been taken in for medical treatment, he "had a high probability of dying by the next morning."

According to the district attorney's office, the defendant's girlfriend later told officials that Washington "admitted to her that the child was bothering him that night," and "he got upset and punched the 20-month-old twice."

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