BRENTWOOD — A Lawrence man accused of beating his 2-year-old son in a Salem restaurant is expected to plead guilty and serve a one-year jail sentence.
Lawyers for Willy Cordero, 23, filed paperwork that shows Cordero plans to plead guilty and accept a 12-month sentence in the Rockingham County jail.
Prosecutors allege that Cordero punched and slapped the child at the Weathervane in Salem in June 2008. Witnesses at the restaurant said they saw Cordero slap the child because he would not stop crying, according to court documents.
The witnesses told county prosecutors that Cordero said he "wasn't going to raise a little (expletive deleted)," an affidavit said.
The boy suffered a swollen eye and lacerations to his face, police said. Cordero originally faced a single count of second-degree assault.
Court papers recently filed by Bernstein, Bartis and Mello, the law firm representing Cordero, state he has agreed to plead guilty to a lesser misdemeanor charge and accept the 12-month prison sentence.
Cordero was originally scheduled to stand trial this week, but has not appeared in court because of the proposed plea agreement. He is expected to appear in court Feb. 5.
Previously filed court documents showed that if Cordero had gone to trial, county prosecutors planned to seek a 10- to 30-year sentence.
