'Had drawn on his printer': Mom's boyfriend burned her little boy with cigarettes, stabbed him repeatedly with fork and shot him with 'pellet gun' as punishment, cops say

Inset: Rosario Diraffaele (Nevada Department of Corrections). Background: Rosario Diraffaele in court (KLAS).

A Nevada man is accused of abusing his girlfriend's children, including allegations that he repeatedly beat, burned and shot her 9-year-old son with a "pellet gun" as forms of punishment, along with forced exercises and wall squats.

Rosario "Roy" Diraffaele, 38, is charged with child abuse and other crimes related to his torturous treatment of his girlfriend's children, according to local CBS affiliate KLAS.

Diraffaele was indicted in May after police were called to an apartment in the central Las Vegas Valley area last year for a welfare check. A woman had reported concerning behavior that the victims allegedly told her about, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

When officers arrived at the home, the son told investigators Diraffaele made him perform exercises, such as wall squats, to punish him, according to police grand jury testimony. If the boy was unable to complete the exercises, Diraffaele would allegedly burn him with cigarettes, stab him with a fork, or shoot him with a "pellet gun" while telling him "not to say anything" about the abuse.

"He disclosed one incident where (Diraffaele) believed that (the boy) had drawn on his printer," a police officer testified at Diraffaele's grand jury hearing. "(Diraffaele) shot him with a pellet gun twice."

The alleged abuse happened between July 2023 and June 2025. Court records show that Diraffaele has a lengthy criminal history that dates back to 2006. He has been arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of false identification and grand larceny.

In 2012, he was reportedly sentenced to one to five years in the Nevada Department of Corrections for theft charges, the Review-Journal reports.

In addition to allegedly abusing his girlfriend's son, Diraffaele is accused of inappropriate sexual contact with her daughter, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.

Diraffaele is facing four counts of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment; two counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14; and open or gross lewdness in the presence of a child or vulnerable person. He is being held on $100,000 bail and has pleaded not guilty, with his trial scheduled for November.