A Manitowoc man has been accused of physically abusing a child.
Manitowoc Police were dispatched on Tuesday (May 12th) to a residence in the city on a report of a physical altercation.
Upon arrival, officers made contact with 34-year-old Austin A. Hawthorne, who stated he and a child had “gotten physical.”
Once inside the home, police located the other individual involved, a child of unknown age.
The child told police that they and Hawthorne got into an argument, which led them to throw an object at the 34-year-old.
Allegedly, this caused Hawthorne to begin punching the child with a closed fist multiple times, causing the victim to scream out in pain.
Police then began speaking to Hawthorne to get his side of the story, where he admitted to “whooping on” the child, and he was subsequently arrested on one count of Physical Abuse of a Child, Intending Great Bodily Harm.
The child was later transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Hawthorne has since been given a $1,000 personal recognizance bond and is not allowed to have any contact with the victim unless authorized by the Department of Human Services.
He will return to court to make his initial appearance on June 8th at 1:30 p.m. in Branch 2.
