CLEARFIELD – A Clearfield man who hid his child from his wife because he believed she was exposing the child to evil spirits was scheduled for a preliminary hearing Tuesday.
Kevin Tyron Beniquez, 33, was charged by Clearfield Borough Police with endangering the welfare of children, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness in connection to an incident on June 24 at 9:04 p.m.
He waived his right to a hearing Tuesday, sending the case on to the court of common pleas. He is in the Clearfield County Jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a witness saw Beniquez and his wife fighting on their back porch before he allegedly grabbed the child, squeezed it tight and took the baby into their home.
There was concern for the child’s safety because Beniquez was possibly under the influence of drugs.
Beniquez’s wife confirmed the witness’s account that Beniquez was arguing with her before he took the child and would not let her have it.
Police then went inside the residence to a bedroom where they could hear him talking and singing. They knocked on the bedroom door announcing they were police officers, but he would not open it. He said that he and the child were fine.
After he refused another order to unlock the door, an officer kicked the door in. Beniquez was seated on the bed with the child lying next to him.
One of the officers grabbed his right arm and told him to stand up. Beniquez immediately tensed up and began to pull away, police said. He was then taken to the ground but continued to resist, attempting to bite one of the officers in the arm and shoulder area.
Beniquez also allegedly tried to kick them several times, ignoring commands to stop. The resistance lasted one to two minutes before he was ultimately taken into custody.
An officer reported that Beniquez had bloodshot eyes, was sweating profusely and had a white substance around his mouth.
He allegedly started talking about evil spirits and said that was his reason for taking the child into the bedroom.
When police spoke with the mother again, she stated she believed he was using methamphetamine.
She also stated that when they were fighting on the porch, he accused her of passing evil spirits on to the child, according to the report.
Beniquez had two other encounters with police earlier that same day.
At 5:34 p.m. he reportedly entered an apartment where he said he was sent to see the owner. He then began rapping and quoting bible verses. The victim did not know him.
At 6:31 p.m., he was allegedly walking around the Auto Zone in Lawrence Township yelling. Later he was outside of the store yelling, police said.