MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 50-year-old Burnsville man is accused of assaulting his daughter on the Fourth of July and scaring her enough that she couldn’t control her bodily functions, according to charges filed Wednesday in Dakota County Court.
Jerome Ellis Cox was charged with one felony count of malicious punishment of a child in connection with the incident.
According to a criminal complaint, police were called to a Burnsville residence at about 10:58 p.m. on July 4 on a report of an assault. Dakota County Dispatch told officers en route that a woman called 911 stating that her husband was beating up her daughter.
When authorities arrived, the couple’s 13-year-old daughter was bleeding from her bottom lip. Officers learned during the investigation that Cox had been arguing with his wife when their daughter stepped in. The girl was punched in the face twice by Cox, the complaint states.
The girl was scared enough during the incident that she lost control of her bodily functions, according to the complaint.
If convicted, Cox faces up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
