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A former Utah Republican Party leader was convicted by a jury Friday of a misdemeanor child abuse for assaulting his teenage son last year.

Marco Diaz, 45, a former chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, was found guilty in South Jordan Justice Court of child abuse injury/reckless, a class B misdemeanor.

Judge Clinton Balmforth suspended a 30-day jail term, ordering Diaz instead to complete 12 months probation, which includes parenting and anger management classes, according to the court docket.

Diaz also must pay a $300 fine.

South Jordan police Officer Sam Winkler has said that on Oct. 26, Diaz grabbed his 13-year-old son in a choke hold, punched him twice in the face and pinned him to the ground.

The boy's face was bruised and swollen, but no bones were fractured.

"The father said he was trying to discipline his son by asking for the electronics he was playing with," Winkler has said, adding that Diaz did not feel his son was giving him the respect he deserved.

"I love my children very much. Anyone who knows me and my kids knows how important they are to me," Diaz said in a statement last year. "Currently my two oldest live with me and when [Child and Family Services] interviewed the kids recently, all three of them told the caseworker that they wanted to live with me. There is two sides to every story."

In May 2013, Diaz — who then headed the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly — ran for chairman of the Utah Republican Party, but lost to James Evans, a former chairman of the Salt Lake County Republican Party.