Salinas man found guilty of abuse against wife, child

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) A Salinas man, 46-year-old Miguel Hernandez, has been found guilty of domestic battery and child abuse after a two-day trial, according to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office.

Investigators say that in September 2020, Hernandez's 10-year-old daughter called 911 to report that he fought with a family friend because he saw his wife talking to him and became jealous. After the fight, his daughter said he became aggressive with her mother.

During the call, the girl asked the dispatcher not to say that she was the one who called because she said her father threatened to hurt her and her siblings if they ever called 911. She also told the dispatcher that there had been other times that Hernandez abused her, her mother and her two younger siblings.

When law enforcement responded, they said Hernandez's wife hesitated to report anything happening at first, but when she found out that her daughter called 911 out of fear for her mother, she told deputies that her husband pushed her into the mobile home, grabbed her by the back of the neck and held her face-down on the couch. She said there were several previously unreported incidents as well.

Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced next week.