Lititz man sentenced for repeated abuse of 3-year-old child

LITITZ, Pa. — A Lititz man has been sentenced to prison for repeatedly abusing a toddler.

Timofey Freint, 30, of Lititz, faces a sentence of 5 3/4 to 12 years in prison for abusing a 3-year-old child, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office. Freint ultimately broke the child's femur as a result of his abuse.

Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Ponessa showed photos of the child's injury to begin sentencing proceedings. Injuries included bruising to the face/head, chest, arms, left shoulder, ribs, legs and back. The victim also suffered a fractured femur, internal damage to his liver and adrenal gland, and muscle damage.

“In my 10 years of working here, I have never seen physical abuse of a child this severe,” said Ponessa, who asked for a sentence starting at 6 1/2 years.

Freint had moved in with the victim's mother two months before this incident. Ponessa said an expert's opinion was that the child could have been killed if the abuse had continued.

“That’s when the bruising started on almost every surface of this child’s body,” Ponessa said.

The defense attorney asked for the mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years, saying the defendant only caused the victim's fractured femur and not the other injuries.

“You have been placed in the custody of this child,” Lancaster County Judge Merrill Spahn told the defendant before handing down the sentence. “Justice would be to turn back the clock, so this was never done to this child.”

Pennsylvania State Police began investigating the case on June 9, 2022, after responding to Hershey Medical Center regarding a 3-year-old child being treated for suspected child abuse. A hospital doctor described the child's fractured femur as consistent with a “snap” and the injuries as related to physical abuse resulting from “excessive, repeated, and multi-system” aggression.

Police then interviewed the victim's mother, who said she went to the store for approximately 30 to 35 minutes to buy diapers on June 8, 2022, and left her children with Freint. Upon returning and discovering the child's injury, Freint said 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 on a victim under 13 and a defendant 18 years or older.

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