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Joshua Cooper is shown in this March 13 sheriff's office photo. Cooper pleaded not guilty to biting off his baby son's nose. (AP Photo/Solano County Sheriff's Office)
FAIRFIELD, Calif. » A Northern California man accused of biting off his baby son’s nose has pleaded not guilty.
Solano County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Monica Martinez said Monday afternoon that 18-year-old Joshua Cooper of Fairfield pleaded not guilty to charges of child abuse and aggravated mayhem.
The child-abuse charge carries a penalty of up to 12 years, and the aggravated mayhem charge carries a potential penalty of life in prison.
Martinez said Cooper is being held on $750,000 bail.
Police on Thursday found the month-old boy bleeding from the face in his family’s apartment.
He was listed in stable condition at Children’s Hospital and Research Center in Oakland on Monday. Doctors said he suffered a skull fracture and a brain hemorrhage and that one-third of his nose had been severed.
He was in the custody of Solano County Child Welfare Services.
