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CRIMINAL JUSTICE Boyfriend gets 20 years for abuse of toddler Comment By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 19, 2015 at 5:07 PM By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 19, 2015 at 5:07 PM » Social News Hugs were exchanged and tears of relief were shed in a Josephine County courtroom on Wednesday among family members and supporters of a 2-year-old boy who was permanently injured by his mother's violent and angry boyfriend in December 2013. The outpouring of emotion came after 29-year-old Paul Andrew Reyes of Grants Pass was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Pat Wolke to 20 years in prison. Reyes had been convicted of first-degree assault, third-degree assault and two counts of criminal mistreatment for striking the young boy in the head while babysitting him on two separate occasions. The boy was critically injured in the second assault. Reyes, an Iraq war veteran who was unemployed and attending Rogue Community College at the time the abuse took place, told police investigators that he hit the boy the first time because he wouldn't quiet down at bedtime. The second attack was simply brought on by his own anger issues, Reyes said. Wolke told Reyes he intended to send a message with the tough sentence that others who struggle with anger issues should get help before they hurt someone. Reyes, who was brought into court in shackles but was unshackled during the hearing, was given the chance to speak before his sentence was handed down. Reyes' voice quavered as he apologized to the little boy — who was not in court — and the boy's family as he read from a prepared statement. "I hope that you make a strong recovery from my actions," he said. The case went to trial in January, but ended when Reyes abruptly changed his plea to guilty of all charges against him after hearing a recording of his own tearful confession played in court. At Wednesday's hearing, defense attorney Deborah Cumming asked for a lesser sentence and presented witnesses — including a psychologist and several former military colleagues of Reyes — who supported the argument that Reyes' actions were brought on by depression and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his two tours of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army. District Attorney Ryan Mulkins, who prosecuted the case, had several of Reyes' former Army supervisors testify by phone at the hearing that Reyes was a problem soldier who was discharged after being caught shoplifting. They also said he once accidentally fired a machine gun then lied about it, claiming he had come under enemy fire. Mulkins also called as witnesses Reyes' estranged wife, April Burke, who testified by telephone from Statesboro, Ga., and his ex-girlfriend, Jena Goode, who is the mother of one of his children. Both said Reyes was jealous and controlling, and that he physically abused them, including by choking them. Goode described one incident in which she said he choked her for so long, she thought, "This is it," convinced she was going to die. During the trial, Kayla Allee — the mother of the boy Reyes assaulted — testified that Reyes controlled many aspects of her life when they were together, even deciding when she would bathe. She said the child abuse occurred during the small windows of time she left her son in Reyes' care. Allee wasn't aware of the abuse until after the second time he hit the child. On Wednesday, Allee testified that when her son was first brought to Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, she feared he wasn't going to survive. She spent two months by his side while he was hospitalized and ended up losing her job and her home because of that, she said. The toddler was initially left totally blind by the assault. He has regained some of his eyesight but not his peripheral vision. He also can't bend his left elbow and has lost the use of his left hand. He walks with a limp because of stiffness in his left leg. Reyes' mother, Debby Reyes, spoke at the sentencing, saying her son returned from his first tour of duty in Iraq a changed person. "My son did not come back my son," she said. By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier MailTribune.com By Melissa McRobbie Grants Pass Daily Courier Posted Mar. 19, 2015 at 5:07 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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