38, faces child abuse charges for reportedly slitting his infant daughter’s throat
A hearing Monday will decide whether a Bloomfield man accused of slitting his infant daughter’s throat will remain in jail until his trial.
Joseph Bresch, 38, is charged with two counts of first-degree child abuse resulting in great bodily injury in connection with an incident investigated in October 2021 by the Bloomfield Police Department.
Newly appointed District Judge Stephen Wayne will hear the evidence at 1:15 p.m. Monday and rule whether Joseph Bresch will remain in custody.
Joseph Bresch recently was released from the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he served time for federal firearms charges.
He was arrested on a bench warrant and booked June 5 into the San Juan County Detention Center. The San Juan District Attorney’s Office hopes to keep him there until his trial.
“We are trying to keep him in custody until we can prosecute,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O’Brien.
Joseph Bresch “slit the throat of an infant child,” according to the state’s motion for pretrial detention, which described him as having “a significant violent propensity toward innocent and defenseless civilians.”
The motion states Joseph Bresch “will not be able to safely reside in the community if he is not detained.”
The violent acts allegedly perpetrated against Joseph Bresch’s 2-month-old daughter, Kali, were described in a nine-page affidavit for arrest warrant that details what happened to the infant in the two weeks she lived with her parents.
Kali was born premature, and had been released from San Juan Regional Medical Center on Oct. 8, 2021, to Joseph and Michelle Bresch, 37, two weeks before she ended up back at the hospital in critical condition, according to the arrest affidavit.
Bloomfield Police discovered the abuse Oct. 24, 2021, when paramedics were called to the home in the 1100 block of Kathy Lynn in Bloomfield.
The medics called dispatch to report the child’s injuries were “consistent with child abuse,” the says.
