A 47-year-old man is in custody on charges of assaulting his stepchild with a horsewhip, according to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.

Romeo Maldonado was arrested and charged with injury to a child in connection with the investigation.

Hidalgo County jail records show Maldonado was booked on Monday on a $250,000 bond.

The investigation began Monday shortly before 8 a.m. when sheriff’s deputies responded to the IDEA Alamo campus after a student reported that a sibling had been assaulted by the child’s stepfather.

The alleged assault happened on Friday, May 8, in the 100 block of East Minnesota Road in rural Alamo.

“According to the victim, the suspect struck the child multiple times with a horsewhip on the thighs, legs, back, stomach, and arms,” the news release stated. “Deputies documented the injuries by taking photographs of the visible marks sustained during the assault.”

Maldonado remains in custody, and the investigation is ongoing.