Charges: Windom father hit son with curtain rod, causing infected wound

(Windom, MN) – A Windom father faces criminal charges, accused of hitting his son with a curtain rod, leaving the boy with an infected wound.

Jeremiah Rafael, 41, was charged in Cottonwood County Court Tuesday with malicious punishment of a child, a gross misdemeanor.

According to a criminal complaint, Windom police received an intake from health and human services on Feb 24 that Rafael’s son had hurt his arm.  The boy’s brother told a school employee: “my dad hurt him this weekend and he hurt his arm and has blood all over,” according to the complaint.

Investigators observed a large, crescent-shaped wound on the victim’s elbow, according to the complaint.  Court documents say a doctor determined cut was infected and the boy was placed on antibiotics.

Rafael’s wife told initially told child protection workers that the boy and his brothers were wrestling over the weekend and the boy was injured as a result.   She later changed her story at the hospital, saying her husband had been hanging curtain rods in the upstairs rooms and had told the children to stay off the bed because parts for the project were laid out on it.

The victim jumped on the bed, and Rafael swung the rod at the boy, hitting the child’s arm instead of his bottom, according to the mother.

The victim’s brother showed investigators a bloodstain on the carpet and said he had cleaned up the staircase because it was full of blood, according to the complaint.

Rafael told investigators he thought he was using the smooth end of the curtain rod.