Excuse for abuse: I’m ‘not a morning person’

Judge outraged by man’s explanation of why he punched, kicked child

Video: Crime & courts

Japanese murder suspect returns to Los Angeles
Oct. 10: In custody after 27 years. Slaying suspect Kazuyoshi Miura returns to Los Angeles. KNBC's John Klemack reports.

Freezer bodies ID'd as missing girls

Conn. OKs same-sex marriage

Former child star admits to murder

The latest on Knox, missing tot

updated 5:55 p.m. ET Oct. 20, 2007

EASTON, Pa. - A man who admitted he beat his girlfriend's 2-year-old son offered an excuse that angered a judge: He said he's not a morning person.

Juan Arreola, 20, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangerment and simple assault. Prosecutors said while moving into a new apartment with his girlfriend on June 7, Arreola kicked her son out of the way, then squeezed the toddler's face.

While looking after the boy three days later, he punched the boy twice, prosecutors said. Arreola's girlfriend brought the child to a hospital later that day, where he was diagnosed with bleeding around the brain. Photos show the boy with severe bruising on his face and back.

Story continues below ↓

When Northampton County Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden asked Arreola Friday if that's how he regularly treated 2-year-olds, he replied: "I was working till midnight. I'm not a morning person."

McFadden said she was almost speechless.

"You're going to look at me straight in the face and say 'I'm not a morning person,'?" she asked.

The judge ordered Arreola to undergo psychological and psychiatric evaluations and set sentencing for Dec. 14. The maximum penalty is a state prison term of more than 20 years.