Man accused of abuse after Tempe 1-year-old's death

Tempe police arrested a 39-year-old babysitter on suspicion of three counts of child abuse as they continue to investigate the Sunday death of a 14-month-old boy who had a broken arm and other injuries, authorities said.

Robert Reynolds, the suspect in the child abuse case, is the boyfriend of the victim's mother, Tempe police Lt. Mike Pooley said. The mother left her son, Juanito Valenzuela, with Reynolds on Sunday morning and left for work.

Pooley declined to release the mothers's name but said she works at a maid at a motel.

"The baby had obvious signs of trauma to his head and body to include a fractured arm,'' Pooley wrote in a press release.

Tempe police responded to a 911 call at about 5 p.m. of a baby not breathing in a mobile home in the 1600 block of East Apache Boulevard. They took the baby to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

Pooley said Reynolds also was caring for two young children of his own. He said the children lived with Reynolds in the mobile home and there is no suspicion at this time of Reynolds' own children being abused.

Reynolds initially told the boy's mother that her son fell and hit his head earlier in the morning, Pooley said. When the baby was found unresponsive later that afternoon, he called his aunt seeking assistance but did not want to call the police and fire departments, according to police.

The child's actual cause of death is unknown and is under investigation by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office, Pooley said.

Tempe police and the state Office of Child Investigations are also looking into the child's death, he said.

Valenzuela was also wanted on a minor traffic warrant for driving on a suspended license, Pooley said.