Crime & Safety
Burnsville Man Charged with Punching 13-Year-Old Girl in Face
Jerome Ellis Cox is charged with malicious punishment of a child in the July 4 incident.
A Burnsville man has been charged with punching a 13-year-old girl in the face on July 4.
Jerome Ellis Cox, 50, is charged with malicious punishment of a child, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint, Burnsville police were called to an apartment building in the 14800 block of County Road 5 just before 11 p.m. July 4 to investigate a reported assault.
Police met a woman and the 13-year-old victim outside the building, and noted that the child’s bottom lip was bleeding, according to the complaint.
The woman told officers that she and Cox had been arguing, and during the exchange, the girl got between them. Cox punched her twice in the face and split her lip, the woman said.
The girl told police that she was frightened during the incident, the complaint says.
Cox is free on a $12,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Oct. 15 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.
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