An Iraq Marine Corps veteran who was arrested for abusing his 6-year-old stepson with a dog collar in Miami earlier this year has accepted a plea deal that will keep him out of prison.
Zachary Perez, 42, had been arrested for aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm back in May.
Miami-Dade Corrections
Miami-Dade Corrections
Zachary Perez
In court Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in the case in exchange for serving two years of community control with a GPS monitor followed by 10 years of probation.
He’ll also have to pay $10,430 in restitution and cannot date or live with anyone who has a juvenile child.
According to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Perez struck the victim with a closed fist several times, kicked the child in the stomach, and at one point struck him with a tree branch.
An arrest report also said Perez then put a collar on the child and yanked him until he fell backward to the ground.
Perez would continue to do this to the child for two days, the report said.
At a previous hearing, Barbara Perez, the defendant’s mother, claimed her son had PTSD, hearing problems, and had surgeries after he served overseas three times.