Child abuser seen on video

PANAMA:. After enraging the whole country with the savage treatment he gave his three year old stepson, Ramon Sandoval has been charged by the Family's Third Prosecution office.

He could face up top six years in prison.

The main evidence in this case is the video taken by a neighbor with his cellphone showing Sandoval while he was bathing and manhandling the child at a home in Nuevo Tocumen.

The video, originally seen on TV is now on line and has been seen by scores of thousands of viewers.

It clearly shows the child being taken out of a wash basin and thrown on the floor, then picked up and thrown into a corner.

Neighbors said there was screaming at that home daily.

The mother, Anayansi Perea, said she had no idea this was going on and presented a formal accusation at the Public Ministry against her partner.

She was not at home when the abuse happened and claims that when she asked Sandoval about the bruise on the child’s chin, he said the kid just fell from the tub.

There is a possibility she could be indicted too, to determine if she really didn't know what was happening in her household.

She has two more children and is now pregnant with Sandoval's baby.

But this case is only the tip of the iceberg.

There is a report of abuse every 24 hours in the province of Panama, according to the Children's Hospital and already this year there are 367 cases at the Family's Second Prosecution office.

The Ministry of Social development has enabled the number 147 child abuse reports. So far this year there have been 311 calls.