Dad Accused of Spinning 1-year-old Son in Clothes Dryer; Kid Will Be Okay

A Mesa dad turned on the family clothes dryer with his son still inside -- and he did it on purpose, cops say. The 1-year-old boy had been sitting inside the dryer with the door open, which the young family thought was "cute," according to a Mesa police news release...

By Ray Stern

February 26, 2009

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A Mesa dad turned on the family clothes dryer with his son still inside — and he did it on purpose, cops say.

The 1-year-old boy had been sitting inside the dryer with the door open, which the young family thought was "cute," according to a Mesa police news release. When the boy's mother left the laundry area to grab a camera, the boy's father — 19-year-old Jose Rocha (pictured) — closed the dryer door and turned the appliance on, police say.

The kid began screaming and was soon rescued, suffering a few bumps and bruises. Family members were so outraged that they called the cops. Rocha was booked into jail on suspicion of child abuse.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.