LITITZ, Pa. — A Lititz man has been sentenced to prison for repeatedly abusing a toddler.
Timofey Freint, 30, of Lititz, faces 5 3/4 to 12 years in prison for abusing a 3-year-old, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office. Freint eventually broke the child's femur through his abuse.
Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Ponessa showed photos of the child’s injury to begin the sentencing proceeding. The injuries included bruises on his face/head, chest, arms, left shoulder, ribs, legs and back. The victim also suffered a broken femur, internal injuries to his liver and adrenal gland and muscle damage.
“In my 10 years working here, I have never seen a physical abuse of a child this bad,” said Ponessa, who asked for a sentence starting at 6 ½ years.
Freint had moved in with the victim’s mother two months prior to this incident. Ponessa stated an expert’s opinion was that the child could’ve been killed if the abuse continued.
“This is when the bruising started on nearly every surface of this child’s body,” Ponessa said.
Defense counsel asked for the mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, stating the defendant solely caused the victim’s broken femur and not the other injuries.
“You were left in care of this child,” Lancaster County Judge Merrill Spahn said to the defendant before imposing sentence. “Justice would be to turn the clock back, so this was never done to this child.”
Pennsylvania State Police began investigating the matter on June 9, 2022, after responding to the Hershey Medical Center for the report of a 3-year-old in treatment with suspected child abuse. A doctor at the hospital described the child’s broken femur to be consistent with being “slammed” and the injuries consistent with physical abuse from an assault that was “excessive, repeated, and involved multiple systems.”
Police then interviewed the victim’s mother, who stated she went to the store for about 30-35 minutes to purchase diapers on June 8, 2022, and left her children with Freint. Upon returning and discovering the child’s injury, Freint stated the victim fell off the couch.
He pleaded guilty in March to charges of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person and aggravated assault of a victim less than 13 and defendant 18 or older.
