Father who rubbed hot sauce in eyes of two-month-old and tortured her sentenced for 30 months
Shawn Michael Foltz was sentenced to 30 months in prison on Wednesday, August 8 after he was found guilty of torturing his two-month-old daughter by rubbing hot sauce in her eyes and throwing fireworks in her face.
Shawn originally pleaded guilty to third-degree assault of a victim under four following his arrest in June 2017. Court documents suggested that Shawn would often abuse his daughter and this would include rubbing hot sauce and cayenne pepper in his daughter's mouth, nose, and eyes, and blocking her airway until she turned blue. He also admitted that he had thrown fireworks at his daughter's face. Speaking to the judge, Shawn's now divorced wife, Belinda Bailer reflected on the impact of his actions.
"I felt like I did not know the man I was married to," she said. The convicted child abuser will get credit for already serving 429 days and is also required to spend at least 20 months in prison. Meanwhile, Judge Amber Gustafson ruled that Shawn is eligible to spend the remaining 10 months under supervised release. During the proceedings, at one point, Shawn said that he decided to target his daughter because he was aware she wasn't in a position to go to the authorities.
As reported by Daily Mail, the abuse occurred between April 10 and May 30, 2017. On May 30, the baby was taken to the Essentia Health emergency room and doctors were surprised to see the injuries she had. They found that the girl with bruises on both eyes, red marks on her back and a bruise on her shoulder.
When Belinda was questioned about her daughter's injuries, she told them that the girl and her brother were left under the care of their father for the evening. When Belinda questioned Shawn about the injuries on their daughter, he told her that it was caused when her brother hit her with a toy gun. Shawn told the authorities that he decided to lie to her because he was afraid she would leave him if she discovered the truth.
Shawn was then questioned by the police and confessed that he caused the injuries by snapping the girl in the face with a towel and used a wooden spoon and piece of vinyl flooring to hit her on her bottom. He also admitted that he grew frustrated with her constant crying.
He later admitted that, while at work, he would think of new methods of torturing his defenseless daughter. Belinda and Shawn were married for five years and speaking to WDAY, she confessed that she now as to pay the bills with half the income which the family used to earn before. She also added that since then they have lost their house. "But I'm here to talk about my little girl," she said.
Belinda stated that her daughter is in a much better condition now but she is undecided on what she will tell her if her daughter asks why her father is not in the picture. She further added that her four-year-old son is also a victim because he had to see some of the horrific actions of his father. "There's no sentence that can undo the damage inflicted on your daughter," Judge Gustafson told Shawn during the hearing. In addition to the prison time, Foltz is required to pay more than $6,000 in restitution.
EDIT: The original version of this article ran with the headline that the baby had died, she has not and is recuperating well. The headline has been updated and the error is regretted.