Pacoima Man Sent to Jail Again for Beating His Wife

A Pacoima man, convicted of repeatedly punching his wife in the face and stomach after she refused to have sex, received his second six-month jail term in less than two years Friday for beating her, a prosecutor said.

A Van Nuys court commissioner imposed the sentence on Eduardo Valentin, 26, after he pleaded no contest to spousal battery this week, said Deputy Los Angeles City Atty. Sharyn Siskel.

The sentence stems from a Sept. 11 incident in which Valentin came home drunk and demanded sex from his wife, then ripped off her clothes and punched her, Siskel said. Police reported that the woman’s lips were swollen and the right side of her head bruised, Siskel said.

In addition to the jail term, Van Nuys Municipal Court Commissioner Mitchell Block placed Valentin on three years probation, ordered him to undergo a year of domestic-violence counseling and to attend at least 104 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Siskel said.

Valentin was sentenced to a six-month jail term in 1993 after he was arrested for assaulting his wife in their apartment while he was drunk, Siskel said.

The prosecutor said Valentin demanded that his wife cook him two dinners that night and grew verbally abusive as she served the food.

When the woman went into the bedroom, her husband attacked her, striking her repeatedly in the face with his fists and attempting to smother her with a pillow, Siskel said. He then hit her in the face with a cordless telephone but she managed to break free, the prosecutor said.

Valentin’s wife grabbed their infant son from a crib and fled the apartment on foot. Valentin chased her, but was later arrested by police, Siskel said.