Health aide Bruno Valenzuela, of Brentwood, charged with hitting disabled child at Port Jefferson Station home

A Brentwood man faces felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child after he "aggressively" slapped a disabled child in his care in December, Suffolk County police said.

Bruno Valenzuela, 34, was employed by the Christian Nursing Registry in Smithtown at the time and was caring for a 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy at the boy’s home in Port Jefferson Station, police said.

Video from the home's nanny cameras showed Valenzuela slapping the child on the back and chest, shaking him and throwing him up in the air after the boy started coughing and crying around 12:35 p.m. on Dec. 20, bruising the child, prosecutors said.

According to court papers, which are partially based on the statement of the child's pediatrician, Valenzuela "did slap the juvenile male victim in the chest and back with excessive force. The defendant's actions were likely to be injurious of the physical, mental or moral welfare of the male juvenile victim."

The boy's father, Christopher Brower, an NYPD detective, from Port Jefferson Station, had returned home from work Dec. 20 to find his son, Maverick, with bruises on his chest and arms when he went to change him and grew concerned, he said in an interview at his home.

After reviewing the video, the family took the boy to Stony Brook University Hospital Dec. 22 and filed a police report.

Brower said in an interview his son had bruises all over his body. He also had broken blood vessels on the back of his arm and fluid in his lungs. He underwent a brain scan but suffered no brain damage.

The boy, who is unable to communicate or walk, requires full-time care, his father said.

After an investigation by detectives from the Suffolk Special Victims Unit, police arrested Valenzuela at his Brentwood home shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Valenzuela appeared solemn at his arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip on Friday on charges of endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person, a class E felony, and endangering the welfare of a child.

His Suffolk Legal Aid defense attorney said Valenzuela had no prior criminal history and that his client denied all charges.

Assistant District Attorney Priyanka Seth said Valenzuela had worked for the family for 2½ years. 

Judge Bernard Cheng released Valenzuela as his charges were not bail-eligible but ordered GPS monitoring. He also issued a temporary order of protection against Valenzuela barring contact with the child.

Brower, who said he still uses the Christian Nurses Registry service, said Valenzuela "was like a family member. I would have never thought I was going to find what I found." 

"My son can't communicate. He can't tell me that this happened to him, so that also was hurting me," Brower added. "Your mind wanders. You think like, what if I didn't go to work that day? ... People just shouldn't have to feel like that. And my son didn't deserve to be put through what he had to endure."

Valenzuela is no longer employed at the Christian Nursing Registry, police said. 

In an interview, Christian Nursing Registry director Camille Harwell called the incident "a tragedy" that was hard to reconcile with Valenzuela’s earlier history with the family. "He was exemplary. ... The father and child loved him" and the family had even given Valenzuela a Christmas present before the injuries were discovered, she said.

"We’ve never had this happen, in 38 years," she said.

Harwell said Valenzuela was terminated "instantly" after the abuse allegations came to light. She said he had not worked with any other patients at the agency.

Valenzuela, a licensed practical nurse, did skilled care for the boy including by giving him medications and maintaining his airway, Harwell said.

According to New York State’s professional license database, Valenzuela was licensed in 2019 and had no enforcement actions in his record.

 Brower said his family is still traumatized, but his son is recovering.

"My son is a fighter ever since he was born. So he is bouncing back. He's still affected. He's definitely upset," Brower said. "It's been a lot for us, and I think it takes time for us to heal, but Maverick is been through so much in his life that he's, he's going to be just fine." 

Newsday's Nicholas Spangler contributed to this story.