RANCHO CUCAMONGA – Bail was increased to $2 million on Tuesday for a Chinese man who has been accused of abusing his infant son, causing the baby to fall into a coma.
Weifeng Tang, 32, was in court on Tuesday to face charges after being arrested by San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies on Aug. 7. Tang and his wife are citizens of China. Forensic pediatricians from Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Children’s Medical Center contacted the sheriff’s dept. on August 6 after the parents brought the two-month-old to the hospital at 10 a.m. on Aug. 3.
Medical reports said he was experiencing unexplained seizures, vomiting and uncontrollable limb movement. Further examination revealed traumatic brain injury, causing blood to pool in the brain cavity, which deprived the infant of oxygen needed to sustain brain life. The parents were interviewed, said Detective David Clifford, a member of the Crimes against Children Detail. The investigation determined the infant had “endured two individual acts of being shaken and ultimately suffered from shaken baby syndrome” – also known as abusive head trauma.
Last reports were that the child is currently in a coma state, being treated for extensive brain damage. Investigators also determined that Tang delayed taking his son to the hospital for two days, likely making the case worse.
“The long term effects of the injury are unknown,” said Clifford, adding that the loss of oxygen to the brain has likely caused irreparable damage. “Shaking can lead to severe brain injury,” he said, “and other psychological injuries” and possibly death.
The couple, who reside on the 10900 block of Terra Vista Parkway in Rancho Cucamonga, have one other child and came to the United States to have their second child, according to Clifford. That second child is the victim.
Weng is charged with child abuse with great bodily injury resulting in a comatose state, paralysis of a child under eight. The mother, unnamed, was not arrested.
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