Photo: Dustin Sandoval
A Mountain Home man changed his plea to guilty on charges of introducing controlled substances into the body of his infant daughter, domestic battery and endangering the welfare of a minor during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Twenty-nine-year-old Dustin Sandoval was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Sandoval was charged, along with his ex-girlfriend, 27-year-old Shannah Cotter of Gamaliel, after their 10-month-old daughter tested positive for having both methamphetamine and THC in her system.
During his appearance before the court Thursday, Sandoval made a statement exonerating Cotter of the charges against her. “She had nothing to do with this, nothing to do with meth. She broke up with me one time because I relapsed,” Sandoval told the court.
Sandoval said, “I am the one who took meth, she did not even want to be around it.”
The introducing charge is a Class Y felony, the most serious class of crime in Arkansas not punishable by death. A person can be sentenced to from 10-to-40-years or life on a Class Y felony.
The introducing charge was first filed against Cotter after the daughter she had with Sandoval was taken to Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC) April 11 of last year. The baby girl was treated for severe bruising to the left leg and vaginal area, allegedly resulting from a “spanking” administered by Sandoval.
The injuries were suspected to be the result of child abuse. Baxter County Sheriff’s Office investigators went to BRMC’s emergency room and examined the little girl’s injuries.
One of the investigators reported being able to make out finger marks on both sides of the bruising. The baby was then taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) in Little Rock.
As part of the examination of the injuries at ACH, a hair follicle toxicology test was done, and the little girl tested positive for exposure to methamphetamine and THC, the main psychoactive property in marijuana.
In an interview with an investigator with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division, Cotter is alleged to have said the little girl was with her most of the time, but they both were with Sandoval at least once a week at what the woman described as his “tree house.”
While the baby was still at BRMC, investigators interviewed two women at the hospital who identified themselves as frequent caregivers for the infant.
One of the women said Sandoval had placed his daughter in the care of her and her boyfriend about 8:45 a.m. on April 11.
She said she noticed the little girl was dirty and gave her a bath. It was during the bath, she told investigators, she saw the extensive bruising and took the child to BRMC.
The woman said she could attest none of the injuries had been present the day before at about 5 p.m. when the baby was placed in Sandoval’s care.
When Sandoval was interviewed, he admitted he had “accidentally” dropped the little girl while carrying her up some steep stairs to his home.
He told investigators the child was screaming after being dropped, and he became frustrated, put her over his shoulders and repeatedly struck her on the buttocks.
At the time of the incident, Cotter says she was in Little Rock having her second daughter by Sandoval. At one recent court appearance, Cotter said both children were in the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
Sandoval appeared in circuit court Thursday wearing the white uniform of the state prison system. He is serving time in the Tucker Unit on earlier charges.
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