This story, originally published at 1:11 p.m. on Jan. 10, 2024, was updated at 2:28 p.m. on Jan. 12, 2024, to add that Hernandez Caballero is an MCPS paraeducator and that he was placed on administrative leave.
Oliver Hernandez Caballero, 25, of Damascus was arrested and charged on Monday for allegedly assaulting his 5-month-old daughter, according to Montgomery County Police.
Hernandez Caballero is a paraeducator at Seneca Valley High School, according to Montgomery County Police and the school’s website.
On Dec. 28, Oliver Hernandez Caballero, 25, was at home alone with his child, and around 9 p.m., he called 911, after she struggled to breathe and drink from her bottle, according to charging documents. Hernandez Caballero accompanied her to Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, charging documents said.
After unexplained injuries were found on the child’s head and body, including skull fractures, brain hemorrhage, rib fractures and bruising, she was transferred to the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., according to charging documents.
The brain hemorrhage was causing her to have difficulty breathing and possible seizures, and Children’s National Medical Center found additional injuries, such as multiple lacerations to the liver and other abdomen injuries, charging documents indicated.
Child Protective Services (CPS) notified the county police’s Special Victims Investigations Division-Child Abuse and Sex Assault Unit about the situation, according to police.
Police determined that Hernandez Caballero was the child’s biological father and gathered enough information to charge him with two counts of first-degree child abuse. He was arrested on Monday and was transported to the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit where he is being held without bond, police said.
On Wednesday, when police announced his arrest, Seneca Valley High School Principal Ricardo Hernandez sent a letter to the community, which did not name Hernandez Caballero, but referenced him, saying that he was placed on administrative leave and is not allowed in the school or on the grounds. MCPS spokesperson Chris Cram confirmed this information to MoCo360.
During a voluntary interview with police on Friday, Hernandez Caballero admitted to shaking and punching his daughter on Dec. 28 before he called 911, charging documents stated.
Also, he said that he noticed his daughter was having trouble breathing after he punched her in the stomach and admitted this was not the first time he shook or punched her, charging documents said.
Hernandez Cabellero’s attorney information is not currently available in digital court records.