‘If you are going to act like an animal, I’ll treat you like one’: Man rubbed autistic toddler’s face in ‘accidentally spilled water’ until he bled

Gregory Haendiges (Delaware County Prosecutor

Gregory Haendiges (Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office).

A 29-year-old man in Indiana is facing multiple years behind bars for attacking his girlfriend’s 1-year-old son after the toddler accidentally spilled water, telling the child he would treat him like an “animal.”

A jury in Delaware County on Tuesday needed only about 20 minutes to deliberate before finding Gregory E. Haendiges guilty of one count of felony battery on a child less than 14 years of age, authorities announced.

Under Indiana state law, the level six felony is punishable by up to 30 months in an Indiana state correctional facility and a maximum fine of $10,000.

According to a news release from the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office, the incident took place in late November 2021 involving a victim who had autism and was nonverbal.

During the trial, prosecutors presented jurors with evidence showing that Haendiges “rubbed” his girlfriend’s 6-month-old child’s “nose and forehead into the carpet” in the spot where the toddler had “accidentally spilled water.” The attack resulted in the child suffering a “bloody wound” to his forehead, prosecutors said.

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