Grandview man sentenced to 20 years for assaulting a 2-year-old
A Jackson County judge sentenced a 23-year-old Grandview man to 20 years in prison Wednesday for assaulting and seriously injuring his 2-year-old daughter.
At a July bench trial, Judge Charles McKenzie found Joshua A. Coleman guilty of first-degree assault. Police arrested Coleman in September 2013 after emergency crews responded to the 6100 block of East 126th Street and found the girl not breathing and suffering life-threatening injuries.
Coleman told detectives he disciplined his daughter by hitting her with a belt, backhanding her in the chest and using both hands to slap both sides of her head simultaneously.
“Coleman stated that he had been having problems with the victim following directions and minding him, and he felt it was due to the mother not disciplining the victim,” police reported in court records.
Mark Morris, mmorris@kcstar.com
This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Grandview man sentenced to 20 years for assaulting a 2-year-old."