A Florida woman who escaped the Ukraine war a year ago and moved to the United States to start a new life will avoid prison time after pleading guilty to viciously attacking her 3-year-old son in 2023.
Yulia Storozhuk, 30, was sentenced to three years probation on July 25 after reaching a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to one felony count of child abuse in exchange for three years of probation.
Judge Carmen Cabarga, who presided over the case in the 11th Judicial Circuit, warned the Sunny Isles Beach woman that she would be incarcerated and then face deportation if she is rearrested before the end of the probation term.
As part of her sentence, Storozhuk was ordered to complete a parenting class and undergo a mental health evaluation.
During the proceedings, the judge made clear that any future incidents of child abuse would not end well for Storozhuk.
“If you lay a finger on this child, you’re coming back before me,” Cabarga scolded the teary-eyed defendant. “The maximum I can sentence you to is 10 years, the minimum I will sentence you to is 22 1/2 months in state prison. For a finger,” she added.
Although the judge called the mother’s actions “horrible” and believed the abuse warranted jail time, she granted leniency, saying she took into account a mental health expert’s opinion that reconciliation would ultimately be better for the child, who was placed in foster care.
The brutal assault, which took place last October, was captured on home surveillance video, which was turned over to police by a neighbor who witnessed Storozhuk viciously pounding the hapless toddler and kicking him after he was thrown to the ground.
Despite the severity of the abuse, she will serve no jail time, but as a result of her guilty plea, she is now a convicted felon.
Prosecutors in Miami-Dade County accused the woman of grabbing the small child with both hands, lifting him off the ground and slamming him hard to the floor.
“While the victim is on the ground, defendant maliciously kicks the victim twice,” according to the criminal complaint and arrest affidavit against Storozhuk. “Defendant then grabs the victim by the face and pushes him to the ground as the victim is attempting to get up. Defendant repeatedly kicks the victim while exiting the camera view.”
A second Ring camera captured the moment when the mother pushed her son in the chest, causing him to stumble backward to the floor, police said.
Later, when confronted with the video evidence, Storozhuk confessed to the abuse, explaining that anger got the best of her after the child threw a tantrum when she refused to take him to the playground.
“In a post Miranda recorded interview, defendant is shown the Ring camera footage and admits to being the person in the video,” police wrote in the report. “Defendant discloses the reason why she pushed her son was punishment for insisting on going to the playground. Defendant went on to say that the son was being difficult and uncooperative.”
Even though the mother lost custody of her son, officials said a future reunion between them might still be possible if Storozhuk complies with all the judge’s orders, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ in Miami.
“She was under an extreme amount of pressure when this happened,” the woman’s defense attorney told the station. “Again, we’re not condoning what she did. She knows. She’s accepted responsibility, but at least now she can move on and not go to prison.”
Storozhuk still has an open case in family court over custody of the boy, who is currently represented by a dependency attorney, who appeared at Storozhuk’s sentencing hearing to oppose the plea deal, according to WTVJ.
