Gomez
A local man was sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to abusing a 2-year old child.
Bartholomew County Superior Court 1 Judge Jim Worton sentenced Jose Manuel Villeda Gomez to 16 years in prison, including 10 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections and six years on probation with Community Corrections. Villeda Gomez had pleaded guilty to one felony count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury.
Authorities arrested Villeda Gomez, who was 22 at the time of his arrest, and his wife, Hanna McBride, Oct. 17, 2024 after CPS investigators discovered marks and bruises on McBride’s young son’s arms, face and torso. After further medical examination, officials found that the child had a missing tooth and two broken ribs.
Hanna McBride, who at the time of her sentencing in 2025 was age 26, gave an address of 1541 27th Pl., Columbus. She was sentenced in 2025 by Worton to 12 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections, with eight years to be served, which was a cap set by a plea bargain agreement in the case after she pleaded guilty. McBride was also given four years probation, two to be served with Community Corrections.
During the Gomez sentencing hearing, Villeda Gomez said that beating children was a common punishment during his upbringing in Honduras, so he did not see anything wrong with his actions at the time. He said that he did not know beating children with a cord was a crime in the United States.
When Defense Counsel Naqsha Bilangady asked if he had any remorse, Villeda Gomez said he now knows that what he did was wrong and that abusing a child in that way is a crime. He also said McBride never stopped him.
Villeda Gomez told court authorities that he would ask the child to forgive him “from the bottom of my heart” and that he “hopes that (the child) continues to be a great kid.”
Deputy Prosecutor Kristina Korobov said that Villeda Gomez initially reported the child’s injuries as results from a fall from a trampoline and an attack from his dog. She also said that Villeda Gomez stayed home alone with the child for long stretches of time while McBride brought in all the financial support for the family.
The state called both Jessica Pittman and Emily Moss from the Department of Child Services (DCS) who both worked on the child’s case to the stand to testify against Villeda Gomez. Both said that the abuse obviously came from an adult in the child’s life and observed photos from the initial CPS report.
“I don’t think I have ever seen a child in that condition my whole career,” Pittman said after confirming she has worked with other abused children in the past.
Moss shared the same sentiment.
“I’ve done this job a long time … this is the worst case of physical and emotional abuse of all time,” Moss said regarding her 15-year career with DCS.
Korobov then called Michael Richardson, the boy’s maternal grandfather with whom the boy has been staying since October 2024, to testify. Richardson said that when he picked up the child from the hospital, the boy was beat up all over his body. He also said that it took the child between 2-3 months to have a vocabulary over eight words and 3-4 months to regulate any of his emotions. The boy still acts out when he has to regulate really big emotions and is developmentally behind in his speech due to the lingering trauma, Richardson said.
“If it was a dog attack, we’d all know what would happen to that dog,” Richardson said. “I don’t see why we should offer any leniency for (Villeda Gomez) now.”
In the closing statements, Bilangady said that Villeda Gomez’s defense was one of sorrow and that he was truly remorseful for his actions.
Korobov countered by saying that in the six months Villeda Gomez lived with the 2-year old, he abused the child for approximately one fifth of the boy’s life. She said that images from their time together showed that Villeda Gomez was not sorrowful when inflicting the pain, but rather enjoyed the action.
“The child became a punching bag for (Villeda Gomez’s) emotions,” Korobov said in her closing statement.
After hearing the closing arguments from both sides, Judge Worton sided with the prosecution, awarding Villeda Gomez the maximum sentencing of 16 years in prison.
“This is the worst case of child abuse the court has ever seen,” Worton said while delivering the sentence. “This was not a case of corporal punishment… this was ongoing child abuse… I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a case more deserving of maximum sentencing.”
