A 31-year-old Ocala man is facing up to 30 years in prison after he was found guilty of aggravated child abuse last week, more than four years after he caused life-threatening injuries to an infant.

On Friday, December 13, 2024, a two-day trial came to an end when jurors found Bryan Orlando Aponte guilty of aggravated child abuse. Court records show that a motion for a new trial was denied by the judge four days later.

The child abuse charge against Aponte stems from an incident in 2020. That year, on April 11, the two-month-old male victim was transported by Marion County Fire Rescue to AdventHealth Ocala. The following day, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office was notified that the infant had been rushed by helicopter to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville due to the severity of his injuries.

Doctors informed an MCSO detective that the victim had bilateral rib fractures that had already healed, along with petechial hemorrhaging, hemorrhaging to his brain, and bucket handle tibia fractures.

All of the injuries were determined to have been caused by “non-accidental trauma,” according to an MCSO report.

A detective made contact with Aponte and conducted an interview. Aponte recounted an incident that had occurred a few weeks earlier when he was awakened after hearing a “gurgling” sound. He stated that he found the victim to be unresponsive, and the victim had vomit on his face.

Aponte claimed that he “delivered blows” to the victim’s back and administered CPR until the victim became responsive again. He told investigators that he did not seek medical attention for the victim because he did not believe the victim was injured, according to the MCSO report.

Upon learning more details about the extent of the victim’s injuries, the detective returned to Aponte and conducted a second interview. The sheriff’s office stated that Aponte admitted to the detective that he had become “frustrated” in the past.

During that second interview, Aponte admitted to picking up the victim and “shaking” him in an attempt to get him to stop crying or calm down, according to the sheriff’s office.

Aponte was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail, where he remains in custody while he awaits sentencing. He is facing up to 30 years in prison.

A sentencing hearing for Aponte has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.