Vacaville Father Sentenced to Prison For Child Abuse

By Bay City News Service

VALLEJO - A Vacaville man has been sentenced to four years in prison for abusing his 9-month-old son in November.

Solano County Superior Court Judge Allan Carter sentenced Michael Louie Hernandez, 32, Friday, Deputy District Attorney Andrew Ganz said.

Hernandez pleaded no contest in January to felony child abuse. He faced up to six years in prison, Ganz said.

Hernandez's 38-year-old wife Colleen Hernandez pleaded no contest in January to a misdemeanor child abuse charge and will be sentenced April 28. Ganz said she is expected to be sentenced for the time she already has served.          

The couple was arrested Nov. 13 after emergency room staff at the Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Vacaville informed police they were treating an infant for head injuries.

The infant suffered skull fractures and was transferred to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

The couple also was charged with abuse of their 3-year-old son in June. Ganz said that charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement in the November case.

"There was a dispute whether that incident was actual abuse or an accident," Ganz said.

Ganz said he argued for the six-year term for Michael Hernandez, who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair, but he considers the four-year sentence reasonable.