Thayne Vialpando

An attempt to get a child to eat his vegetables allegedly escalated into physical abuse last month, leaving the boy with scabs and bruises on his cheeks. Investigators say it wasn’t the only instance of abuse, either.

Twenty-two-year-old Thayne Vialpando, who’s dating the child’s mother, is alleged to have squeezed the 6-year-old’s cheeks and grabbed his throat during one dinner, and to have injured the boy's arm, pulled out his hair, and backhanded him across the face in other altercations.

Park County prosecutors have charged Vialpando with a felony count of child abuse, asserting the Powell resident intentionally or recklessly inflicted physical injury.

“This little boy suffered injuries over a period of time,” Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Laura Newton said at a preliminary hearing last week. The hearing culminated in the case being forwarded from Park County Circuit Court to District Court and toward a trial.

Charging documents say the boy’s father, who has the child on weekends, became concerned about the scabs and bruising and took him to the hospital on June 30. Cody police were initially summoned to West Park Hospital, but because the incidents are alleged to have occurred while the child was in Powell with his mother and Vialpando, Powell police ultimately took over the case.

Powell Police Investigator Chris Wallace said the boy had old and new bruises on his body, including his face, shoulders, clavicle, chest and back; the boy also had a bandage on his upper right arm, hair missing from atop his head and he said both his cheeks and throat hurt.

Hours later, Wallace summoned the boy’s mother and Vialpando to the Powell police station for separate interviews.

The mother’s account

According to the officer’s affidavit, the boy’s mother admitted that “things may have been rougher than they should have been.”

The mother said she felt disrespected by the boy refusing to eat food she had made and said she “probably” cut the boy’s face with her nails while trying to push his cheeks and make him swallow.

“That was why I put a Band-Aid on him,” she said.

However, the woman said she knew nothing about the bruising. According to an affidavit from Wallace, the woman “admitted she has heard Vialpando raise his voice because of frustration but hadn’t seen anything.” She reportedly explained that she gets scared and leaves the room when Vialpando gets “loud.” She also is quoted as acknowledging that he had gotten “aggressive” with the kids.

Although the boy claimed to have pulled his own hair out, “there were days she wondered if Vialpando would do something like that,” the affidavit says. 

The woman has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing, though Newton said last week that the investigation was continuing.

The defendant’s account

In his own conversation with Investigator Wallace, Vialpando reportedly said he’d accidentally pulled out a clump of hair while trying to turn the boy by his head. According to Vialpando, “he told [the boy] that was not supposed to happen and he apologized,” the affidavit says.

Vialpando also allegedly admitted to leaving the mark on the boy’s arm by grabbing him — and he indicated the bruises on the child’s face and back came from a backhand that knocked him onto the floor.

“Vialpando said he made sure [the child] was OK and told [the child] he was sorry,” Wallace wrote.

As for the lunchtime incident on June 27 or 28 that underlies the criminal charge, Vialpando reportedly said both he and the boy’s mother had gotten sick of the boy refusing to eat his corn and peas.

After initially being “as nice as possible,” Vialpando said “they” pushed the boy’s cheeks harder, the affidavit says, while Vialpando allegedly grabbed the child by the neck.

“I asked Vialpando if he went overboard when he was frustrated, and he agreed,” Wallace wrote.

Vialpando reportedly said that when he and the boy’s mother saw marks show up on the boy’s face, “they got [the child] ice and ibuprofen and told him they were sorry.”

Vialpando was arrested immediately after the June 30 interview.

Released on bond

Meanwhile, charging documents say the Wyoming Department of Family Services took all three children in the home into protective custody and placed them in the care of their father.

Vialpando has been ordered to have absolutely no contact with the kids while his criminal case is underway.

His bond was initially set at $100,000 cash only, as prosecutors asserted that the allegations amounted to “aggravated child abuse.” However, Newton dropped that enhancement last week, after Vialpando’s defense attorney, David Ziemer, argued the evidence didn’t indicate that the boy had suffered any “serious bodily injury” as defined by state law.

Following that change, Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah lowered Vialpando’s bond to $25,000 cash or surety. Darrah also modified the terms to allow Vialpando to contact his girlfriend; according to testimony, the couple is expecting the birth of their first child in the coming weeks.

Vialpando’s next court appearance will be an arraignment in district court, where he will enter a plea to the charge. He made bail and was released from custody on July 10.