Father sentenced to three years for abusing infant daughter

A father has been sentenced to three years in prison for domestic violence after repeatedly punching his one-year-old daughter, causing head and facial injuries, the Office of the President of the Court of Final Appeal announced.

The Court of Second Instance rejected the father’s appeal against his conviction but increased the compensation awarded to the child from MOP100,000 to MOP200,000 for nonpecuniary damages, plus legal interest.

The court also upheld an order requiring him to participate in a domestic violence prevention program or undergo psychological counseling for three years.

According to a statement from the President of the Court of Final Appeal, released Thursday, the father was frequently irritable when the child cried or made noise and repeatedly “forcefully pinched her face.”

The statement said that on Feb. 14, 2023, the father became angry over the infant’s crying and noise in the early morning and punched his daughter several times in the face and the back of her head. This caused the girl to suffer bruising on the right side of her face and the back of her head, superficial scalp injuries, bruising of her upper lip and a torn upper-lip frenulum, which required eight days to heal.

Moreover, the medical report described behavior that was considered inconsistent with the child’s age, including “uncontrolled behavior,” “aggression” and an “unstable mood.” The medical findings also raised concerns that the daughter had suffered psychological trauma, prompting her mother to report the matter to police.

The Court of First Instance convicted the father of domestic violence under circumstances considered particularly reprehensible or perverse. The father then appealed the criminal conviction, while the infant, represented by her mother, appealed the original compensation award, arguing that it was insufficient.

In rejecting the father’s appeal, the higher court said domestic violence is not limited to conduct that occurs repeatedly over a long period. A single incident may qualify if it constitutes a serious offense, while less serious acts may also amount to domestic violence when they are repeated or form part of a pattern of control.

The court found that the father’s conduct was recurrent, citing the earlier forceful pinching and the later assault. It said the punching was particularly serious because of the child’s age, the motive for the attack, the degree of violence and the injuries caused.

The court said the conduct harmed not only the girl’s physical integrity but also her personality and dignity, and amounted to coercion and control within the meaning of Macau’s domestic violence law.

The ruling also said the original MOP100,000 award did not adequately reflect the child’s psychological trauma. It therefore increased the compensation to MOP200,000.

The father and the child’s mother married in 2021, the same year their daughter was born.