SICKENING footage shows a nurse violently slapping a disabled five-year-old patient repeatedly.
But the carer, Bruno Valenzuela, was only arrested after the disturbing video was broadcast by a local news channel.
Valenzuela, 31, attacked the youngster while visiting the child’s family home in Port Jefferson, Long Island.
Shocking surveillance footage shows the nurse, who was wearing headphones, ignoring the boy’s cries.
Valenzuela can then be seen getting visibly frustrated, before striking the child multiple times on the chest while shouting at him.
As the boy’s crying intensifies, the carer picks him up and shakes him while repeatedly yelling at him to “relax”.
The attack on December 20 left the child with bruises across his chest, and was reported to police two days later.
Valenzuela was only arrested late on Thursday, however – weeks after the incident.
He was detained hours after the sick footage was aired on News 12’s Long Island broadcast.
The boy’s dad, Christopher Brower, told the New York Post: “It took news reports for the Suffolk police to go and make an arrest for my son.”
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Brower, an NYPD detective, said he was told by investigators that they couldn’t arrest Valenzuela until a doctor had signed a statement saying the slams on the boy’s chest were “not medically necessary”.
He added: “I’m a detective. I’ve made over 500 arrests in my lifetime.
“I’ve never heard that once in my life – you have the whole thing on tape and you’re telling me you need a doctor to tell you that beating and choking my son isn’t medically necessary?”
Valenzuela was arrested at his home in Brentwood shortly after 9pm on Thursday.
He has since been charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person and endangering the welfare of a child.
The carer has also been fired from his position at Christian Nursing Registry.
Camille Harlow, a spokesperson for Christian Nursing Registry, told the Post: “In 38 years, we’ve never had this happen.
“He was with that family for 3.5 years and had a wonderful rapport with the family and the child.
“Immediately, the nurse was terminated and reported to the state licensing department.
“The father continues to use our agency. We’re heartbroken. We love this child. We love this family. We are as heartbroken as Mr Brower.”
Valenzuela is due to be arraigned in Suffolk County court on Friday.
