FARMINGTON – A New Mexico man has been sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting a minor.

According to a news release sent by the U.S. Department of Justice, Kevin Ernest Lewis, 32, of Crownpoint, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced April 12 to five years in prison for assault of a minor “resulting in substantial bodily injury in Indian Country.”

In February 2020, Lewis pleaded guilty to the charge. According to the release and court records, in his plea agreement, “he admitted to hitting his then-girlfriend while she was holding their 4-month-old child” on the Navajo Nation.

During the incident, Lewis “knocked” the child onto the ground and in doing so caused a skull fracture and intracranial bleeding.

When Lewis is released from prison, he will be subject to three years of supervised release.

mmitchell@durangoherald.com