UPDATED: Janesville man held on child-abuse charges
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JANESVILLE—A Janesville man accused of assaulting two small children inflicted injuries so painful the children lost consciousness, according to a criminal complaint.
Brandon L. Quinn, 23, 1306 N. Washington St. No. 1, is accused of making a 7-year-old boy and 9-year-old girl hold out their hands so he could hit them with a spatula and spoon and striking the girl with a hammer, causing her to bleed.
The assaults took place Tuesday. Quinn also is accused of beating the boy's genitals so severely that he bled and passed out.
Quinn told police he was drunk and took Oxycontin that he bought in a bar, so he could not remember much of what happened, the complaint states.
Two women—one the children's mother—knew about the assaults but did not call police because they were afraid, the complaint indicates.
Quinn was charged in Rock County Court on Thursday with two counts of physical abuse of a child. The felonies each carry a maximum penalty of 12 years and six months in prison and a $25,000 fine.
Assistant District Attorney Jodi Bollendorf called the assaults “horrific” and said more charges might be lodged against Quinn.
Court Commissioner Larry Barton set $20,000 cash bail. Immediately afterward, Quinn, appearing via a video link from the jail, could be seen with his hands over his face.
Barton ordered that Quinn have no contact with any children.
A preliminary hearing is set for 2 p.m. Friday.
The assaults occurred when the children's mother was at work. Quinn is the mother's boyfriend, police said.
Some of what investigators know came from a woman who moved into the residence about a week ago and baby-sits the children while their mother is at work.
The babysitter said she woke up at 10 a.m. Tuesday and saw Quinn making the children hold their hands on a cutting board while he hit them with a spatula, according to the complaint.
She also saw Quinn get a hammer and make the girl put her hands on a storage container, but she walked out of the room because she could not bear to watch, according to the complaint.
The babysitter said she did not call police because she was afraid of Quinn, the complaint states.
Quinn beat the children again that night in their bedroom, but the babysitter could only hear the sounds of skin striking skin, screaming and crying, and then she heard the mother telling Quinn to stop, according to the complaint.
The mother told police the children were asleep when she came home Tuesday night, but the next morning they cried and told her Quinn had hurt them and they wanted to leave the residence, according to the complaint.
The mother said “she was afraid to call police,” the complaint states.
The girl told police Quinn struck them several times with a hammer in different places on their bodies and also struck them with his hands and kicked them.
A checkerboard-like imprint of Quinn's shoe could be seen on the girl's cheek, nose and forehead, the complaint states.
The girl said Quinn tore off her underwear so he could beat her bare skin. She said she lost consciousness from being choked and again from a hammer blow to the head that caused her to bleed onto the floor, according to the complaint.
The girl also asked police to remove Quinn's belt because he used it to beat them “all the time,” the complaint states.
The boy told police Quinn spread his legs and hit him repeatedly with a spoon and spatula, until his genitals bled, according to the complaint. The
The girl asked a police officer to remove a butcher knife from the residence because Quinn had threatened on several occasions to “whoop” them with it, according to the complaint.
Janesville police went to the apartment at 6:12 p.m. Wednesday after receiving an out-of-town tip. The children were later found walking with another adult, on their way to another residence, police said.
The children were taken to Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center, Janesville, and later were placed with Rock County Child Protective Services.
Quinn remained at the Rock County Jail on Friday.
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