Wichita dad sentenced for abandoning baby girl in canal. Lawyer says drugs caused it
A Wichita man who abandoned his infant daughter in the drainage canal along I-135 highway in July has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison, according to Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dan Dillon.
Vincent James Perez, 35, pleaded guilty in December to three counts of aggravated endangering a child and one count of aggravated battery.
A motorist called 911 shortly before 2 p.m. on July 23, 2024, after seeing the 11-month-old girl running naked in the canal near the Mount Vernon bridge on I-135 in south Wichita. Authorities have said the girl was found roughly 12 hours after she was last seen with her father.
Police had already been searching for her after receiving a report of a man who had left a child alone in a stroller near a park early that morning. The stroller was later found empty, Perez’s arrest affidavit says.
The girl was covered in sunburns, scrapes, bruises and mud when first responders rescued her, court records show.
The canal divides north- and southbound lanes of one of Wichita’s major highways and serves as drainage for the surrounding area. It’s often filled with water.
Perez was arrested on July 24.
His lawyer, in a motion asking for leniency in sentencing, wrote that Perez’s “consumption of illicit substances ... was at the root of” his “inexcusable” conduct. The lawyer also wrote that Perez “is deeply remorseful ... as the victim in this case was his own child and what he did is going to impact his ability to ever have involvement with her again.”
But Sedgwick County District Judge Tyler Roush ruled that “no substantial and compelling reasons” existed to warrant less than the 54-month sentence he imposed, court records show.
Perez was on parole when he abandoned the baby in July. His prior convictions include burglary, theft, assault, weapons violations, and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, court and corrections records show.
He will be required to serve two years of post-release supervision after he is freed from prison, Dillon said by email.
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