Aug. 30—POTTSVILLE — A city man has been charged with aggravated assault of a child and other crimes in connection with a 6-month-old boy suffering broken bones in his arm and leg.

Mateo Jacob Rivera, 24, was arrested by city police Detective Joseph R. Welsh and arraigned Tuesday by Magisterial District Judge James K. Reiley, Pottsville, who set bail at $50,000 unsecured.

Welsh said he was contacted following a June 2 incident that resulted in the child being hospitalized at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, Allentown.

He said the boy's mother had fed her child after waking in the early hours, then took him downstairs and placed him in the care of Rivera.

Minutes later, she heard the boy crying and went downstairs to find him "favoring his arm." She took him to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill E. Norwegian Street and the child was later transferred to the Cedar Crest campus.

Rivera told police that the mother had brought the child downstairs in a bouncy seat and left him on a mattress. He said the boy tried to "roll out" of the seat several times and on the third try his arm got stuck, "at which point he began crying," Rivera said, according to the affidavit.

At Cedar Crest, the boy was diagnosed with having a fractured humerus in his left arm as well as fractures to his right tibia and femur.

A skeletal survey report noted "multiple fractures of varying ages" and a doctor described the injuries as "concerning for child abuse."

Rivera faces two counts of the felony aggravated assault charge, as well as a felony of endangering the welfare of children and misdemeanors of simple assault and reckless endangerment.

The defendant remained jailed as of Wednesday afternoon after being escorted to the county prison by a parole officer.

A preliminary hearing is set for 11 a.m. Oct. 9 before Reiley.

Contact the writer: amarchiano@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023