A Manitowoc man has been convicted in a child abuse case from earlier this year.
51-year-old Joseph Anthony Baxter Jr. pleaded guilty to a charge of Child Abuse – Recklessly Causing Harm, while a charge of Strangulation and Suffocation was dismissed but read into the record.
Judge Robert Dewane withheld his sentencing, instead placing Baxter on probation for two years.
Baxter was arrested in mid-June after it was learned that he had assaulted his 9-year-old child, in an incident Court Commissioner Jewel Scharenbroch called a “concerning situation.”
As a part of his probation, Baxter was ordered to have no contact with the victim unless approved by the Department of Human Services.
A 60-day sentence in the Manitowoc County Jail under the Huber Law was imposed but stayed, meaning it can be imposed at his probation officer’s discretion and further order of the court.
