DANVERS — A Danvers man charged with beating a 2-year-old girl and her 6-year-old sister is being held without bail today, pending a hearing to determine whether he is too dangerous to release.
J. Franco A. Bertone, 22, of 96 Newbury St., 23B — an address for a mobile home park on Route 1 — was arrested Tuesday by Danvers police and charged with two counts of assault and battery on a child with injury.
The 6-year-old allegedly suffered bruises "on her head, face, neck and buttocks, and an injury to her tongue," according to court records, while the 2-year-old "sustained injuries consisting of ... hematomas on her face and buttocks, as well as red marks to her neck and chest."
Police said the injuries occurred between Aug. 15 and Aug. 29, while Bertone was living with his fiancee and her daughters at the Motel 6 on Route 1. The couple were homeless at the time and later moved to the Route 1 trailer park where Bertone grew up, police said. Bertone is not the biological father of the girls.
Bertone pleaded not guilty yesterday in Salem District Court and was ordered held without bail until a dangerousness hearing, set for Sept. 8.
The arrest was the result of an investigation that started Monday afternoon when Danvers Detective Robert Sullivan received information about an alleged case of child abuse.
"Apparently, this abuse has occurred over the last several weeks," Sgt. Robert Bettencourt said.
The state Department of Children and Families is also investigating.
According to court documents, Bertone referred to what he called "the discipline aspect" when being interviewed by Sullivan. He said his discipline involved spanking, and "maybe I did go a little too rough," but that such incidents were isolated.
Bertone reportedly told police one incident involved the girls not following the rules with a pet, and that the spanking may have gotten out of hand. He told Sullivan it was triggered in part because of the tensions of staying in the motel. He reportedly told police that he had not grasped that if he gives the girls a quick spank, it leaves a bruise. He called his spanking "tough love."
At one point, he told Sullivan the mark on the 6-year-old's tongue might have happened when, before he spanked her, he gave her a timeout and put a bar of soap in her mouth, which might have caused an irritation.
Police were alerted to the abuse by a relative of Bertone's who was contacted by the girls' baby sitter, a longtime acquaintance of Bertone's whom he hired to watch the children while the couple were at work, court documents show.
Bertone grew up in Danvers but had moved to Dartmouth, where he met his fiancee and her children.
The police report also alleges a prior incident in which Bertone "strangled" his fiancee "until she lost consciousness." She kicked Bertone out but then later moved in with him at the Motel 6. The fiancee told police this was an isolated incident.
When the baby sitter asked Bertone about the alleged abuse, he reportedly threatened her, which was why she did not come forward right away, court documents say. However, the baby sitter told Bertone's relative "she saw handprints and bruises on the toddler, and when she asked the girl what happened, she said, "Daddy did it."
The baby sitter also noticed a bruised neck, a black eye and a hole on the tongue of the other girl. When the baby sitter asked her what happened, she said, "Daddy hit me,'" according to court records.
The baby sitter later forwarded pictures to the relative, who told police that the girls' mother was aware that Bertone was spanking her children, but that if she thought police were involved, the couple might flee.
Police also spoke with the mother, who told police she had confronted Bertone after receiving photos of the alleged abuse from the baby sitter. She said she told Bertone "that he was not allowed to discipline them anymore unless he was going to put them in the corner," according to court records.
Both Bertone and his fiancee worked at the Texas Roadhouse in Danvers, police said. They stayed at Motel 6 from Aug. 13 to Aug. 27.
Police had the children checked out at North Shore Children's Hospital and advised their mother about her rights to obtain a restraining order. She declined to do so.
Police also called the Department of Children and Families to determine what to do with the children. The agency decided the girls should go home with their mother.
Essex County District Assistant District Attorney Lisa Cone is prosecuting the case. Salem attorney Jesse Dole is representing Bertone.
Staff writer Ethan Forman can be reached at 978-338-2673 or by e-mail at eforman@salemnews.com.
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