Father Charged With Abusing 5-Month-Old Girl
COON RAPIDS, Minn. (WCCO) -- A 25-year-old Coon Rapids man has been charged with abusing his 5-month-old daughter, causing traumatic head injuries.
Joshua Allen Vanhoutan has been charged with first-degree assault and two counts of malicious punishment of a child.
According to the criminal complaint, Vanhoutan called the child's mother while she was at work the morning of May 11 and told her something was wrong. He said their child was unresponsive and her arms were frail.
The child was taken to Mercy Hospital and then transferred to Minneapolis Children's Hospital. Police were contacted because the child had retinal hemorrhaging and bleeding on the brain, which they suspected was due to being shaken.
Vanhoutan admitted to investigators that he had been playing with the child and her twin in the living room that morning when one of them started fussing. He told police he shook her because she would not calm down.
He told police he didn't call for doctors when his daughter became unresponsive because he couldn't afford to miss work.
He was taken into custody.
