A criminal with a violent past was charged with child abuse on Wednesday after he allegedly beat a 2-year-old boy with a wire hanger for mispronouncing his sister’s name.

The boy, who suffers from a speech impediment and whose name has not been released, now faces possible blindness in one of his eyes because of the severity of his injuries.

David Lee Sinnett, a 32-year-old man with a long criminal history, was questioned by police after the boy was brought into a hospital an hour’s drive from Tampa, Florida, with a black eye and bruising on his face, one of his shoulders, his back, and his buttocks.

Though Sinnett denied injuring the boy’s eye during his questioning by police, he did admit that he gets frustrated with the boy because he believes that the boy simply isn’t trying hard enough when he mispronounces names.

The names of the boy, his sister, and his mother- as well as their relation to Sinnett- have not been disclosed in an effort to protect the boy’s identity.

According to Bay News 9, Sinnett said that he only hit the boy on the back twice because he was too close to a wall outlet.

WTSP reports that Arlene Tilson, 29, was arrested for failing to help the child during the abusive incident, though it is also unclear what her relation is to anyone involved.

String of incidents: These are Sinnett’s mugshots from 2005 (left), 2003 (center), and 2001 (right), for charges relating to firearms, drug possession and traffic violations respectively

 Beginning problems: Other mugshots from 2001 (left), 2000 (center) and 1998 (right) show his history of criminal behavior which includes firearm, drug, and probation violations which escalated later in life to an arrest for attempted second degree murder

As for the bruises on the boy’s face and eye, Sinnett said that they came from a skateboarding accident a few days prior.

Upon examination, a doctor at Winter Haven Hospital determined that the boy had a fractured orbital bone which could lead to permanent eye damage or a loss of his sight, according to Fox News.

In a move reminiscent of the film Mommie Dearest, where the character of Joan Crawford beats her daughter with a wire hanger after using it to store fancy clothes, Sinnett allegedly used the same weapon of choice in this episode.

Sinnett’s latest arrest for child abuse was his first with that charge, but far from his first time in a Florida prison.

The first of his 11 arrests came when he was 18-years-old, and span the gamut from traffic violations and concealed weapons to drug dealing and attempted second degree murder.

For the attempted murder charge he spent 5 years in prison and was released in 2010.

– Daily Mail UK