PROVO — An Orem man has been ordered to serve six months in jail for beating his girlfriend's 23-month-old son.

Jason Arias, 24, pleaded guilty last month to intentionally inflicting serious physical injury on a child, a second-degree felony.

On Monday, he apologized for striking and spanking the child last December hard enough to cause bruises and to fracture the child's skull.

His voice breaking, Arias told 4th District Judge Darold McDade he lost his temper in part due to the stress of working two jobs and being in "a really bad relationship."

"I would do anything to pay this back," Arias said.

Arias was watching the baby on Dec. 30 while the boy's mother was at work. He called his girlfriend to say the child had a bruise on his head from falling off a table and "was not doing very well."

Prosecutor Julia Thomas displayed photos that showed bruises on the child's body and a handprint left on his face.

"That's a tremendous amount of force," Thomas said. "He is lucky he didn't kill this child."

She said it is unclear whether delays in the boy's development are due to the beatings he received from Arias.

Thomas said she was "astonished" by an Adult Probation & Parole report that recommended probation and GPS monitoring for Arias.

McDade agreed the report was "pretty lenient" and ordered 36 months of probation on a suspended prison sentence of one to 15 years. He ordered Arias, who was free on bail after serving 12 days in jail, to be taken into custody immediately.

"If not for the resilience of this child, you would be standing in front of this court in a very different situation," McDade said. "This child has no way to defend itself except by me and the prosecution."

He said restitution would be determined at a later date and would depend on how the child develops.

e-mail: pkoepp@desnews.com