Woman shares story of alleged harassment in Bloomfield – The Durango Herald

A man was charged after finding an infant with serious injuries

A man who reportedly slit the throat of his infant daughter in a gruesome case of child abuse in Bloomfield has been released from the San Juan County Detention Center and placed in a transitional housing program in Albuquerque.

Joseph Bresch, 38, was charged with two counts of first-degree child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of false imprisonment and assault on a family member, which was investigated by the Bloomfield Police Department in 2021.

Special Prosecutor JoHanna Cox filed a motion to keep Bresch in jail until his trial, which is scheduled for Sept. 24 in the courtroom of Judge Curtis Gurley in the 11th Judicial District in Aztec.

“No conditions of release will reasonably protect the safety of others or the safety of the community,” Cox wrote in her motion, saying Bresch “has demonstrated a significant propensity for violence against innocent and defenseless civilians. If he is not apprehended, he will not be able to safely reside in the community.”

Bresch’s ex-wife and mother of the molestation victim said she was at the hearing and told the court she “would prefer Bresch to remain locked up,” Michelle Bresch said June 27 in a telephone interview with Tricity record.

Despite Michelle Bresch’s request and request, Gurley released Bresch to the Diersen Charities Residential Reentry Center in Albuquerque, where he will be housed with a GPS ankle monitor and under house arrest except during work hours, court records show.

Court records show Bresch was ordered to complete a “community program providing parenting education and training,” complete 40 hours of community service, participate in mental health screenings and “have no contact with the alleged victims.”

That provided Michelle Bresch with some protection, but she doesn’t believe she or her 2-year-old daughter will be safe once he’s released from custody.

“He instilled this fear in me,” Michelle Bresch said of her turbulent marriage. “I had knives thrown at me, machetes thrown at me, guns pointed at me.”

Michelle Bresch and Bresch’s relationship began when they were both 9 years old and living in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“He was my best friend,” she said, adding that they lost touch when she moved away at age 16.

In 2017, after the mass shooting at Mandalay Bay, they reconnected.

Michelle Bresch learned he had been in and out of prison since he was 16 and had served time for child abuse. But she said she was “intrigued” and believed his claims of innocence.

Their relationship was revived, and he separated her from the family. He moved her to Farmington, where she didn’t know anyone. She wasn’t allowed to leave the house. She had no friends. She had no one except Bresch and his friends.

Michelle Bresch testified that she bought firearms for him without cover and was briefly imprisoned.

She then made changes to her life to protect her children, a 7-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl who were reportedly victims of severe abuse by Bresch, authorities said.

“I have sole custody of my children again,” Michelle Bresch said, adding that she received the court documents on June 27.

“It was a long and hard fight. (…) It took so long to prove that I was not the problem,” she said.

She said the abuse continued throughout the relationship, including emotional and physical abuse and sexual assault, and she blamed him for the death of her unborn child.

The acts of violence Bresch allegedly committed against Michelle Bresch and his two-month-old daughter were detailed in a nine-page affidavit containing the arrest warrant.

The baby was born prematurely and spent two months in the hospital before being discharged from San Juan Regional Medical Center on October 8, 2021.

Michelle Bresch stated that she was afraid to take her home, and when the baby did return home, it was only two weeks before she was returned to the hospital in critical condition, according to the affidavit.

Bloomfield police discovered the abuse on October 24, 2021, when paramedics were called to Bresch’s home at 1100 Kathy Lynn. Doctors called dispatch to report that the child’s injuries “were consistent with child abuse,” the affidavit states.

When the baby arrived at San Juan Regional Medical Center, he was in critical condition.

The infant’s “visible” injuries included “a bruise to the left eye, burst blood vessels in the left eye, a cauliflower ear-like malformation on the left ear, a skin break and laceration to the back of the left ear, blood around the ear, mouth and nose, swelling of the nose and eyes, a bruise to the left shoulder blade, broken ribs, severe diaper rash, and most concerning was a laceration to the front of the neck near the base of the jaw,” the affidavit states.

Michelle Bresch said in an interview that the baby’s facial injuries were caused by “rubbing her with her chin.”

There was also a 5-day-old cut to the child’s throat, reportedly done with a razor blade that Bresch kept in his pocket. The incision was so deep that “the underlying tissues and structures of the neck were visible.” “It exposed esophageal tissue and required advanced treatment that only a hospital could provide,” according to the statement.

When she reported the abuse, Michelle did not tell the police or hospital staff what was happening. She claimed that Bresch was “always on the phone” telling her what to say.

“Everything I said in those police reports were stories I was told to tell,” she said. “The hardest fight I’ve ever had in my entire life was proving that I wasn’t a monster.”

Michelle Bresch said she tried to protect the infant by holding him to her, but when she showered or slept, Bresch allegedly took the child and hurt her. “I wanted my children to survive.”

“I would float. He didn’t like it when I was floating in the air,” Michelle Bresch said. “When I asked for it, he would throw it to me.”

She said there were multiple calls to Bloomfield police and she tried to leave several times, and the abuse she received “got progressively worse” every time she said something.

“No one listens and they always want to blame the victim,” Michell Bresch said, adding that she is now trying to put her life back together.

She’s in a new city, she has a new life, and she will continue to fight for her children.

He tells victims of abuse: “You need to tell someone. …There is a way out and don’t back down.”

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