Minnesota man arrested for torturing baby by pouring hot sauce in her eyes and choking her

A 31-year-old Moorehead, MN man is accused of rubbing hot sauce and cayenne pepper in his 2-month-old daughter's eyes and throwing fireworks in her face to punish her, according to Valley News Live.

Shawn Michael Foltz was arrested and charged Friday over reports of heinous abuse against the 8-week-old girl, including accusations that he shut off her airway until her face turned blue, popped her with a towel, sprayed her with hot water and beat her until she was covered in bruises.

The Duluth News Tribune said, "The abuse occurred from about April 10 until May 30, when the baby's mother brought her to the Essentia Health emergency room. There, police officers saw the baby had dark bruises over both eyes, red marks on her back and a bruise on her shoulder."

The girl's mother told authorities that she left her 3-year-old son and the baby in care of Foltz, their father, on the night of May 30. At around 7:30 p.m., she said that she received a text that included a photo of the baby with red, swollen eyes and foam dribbling out of her mouth.

Valley News Live said, "Foltz told police that he was trying to feed the baby but she was moving around fussing and he was having a hard time getting the bib under the baby's chin so he put all of his fingers on her chest and pushed down hard which caused red marks on the baby's chest. He also told police that when he was trying to feed the baby and the bottle of milk spilled onto a towel. Foltz became frustrated and told police he used the towel to 'snap' the baby five times in her face. Foltz told police that he originally blamed his son because he felt his wife would leave him for what he had done to the baby."

He also admitted to pouring hot sauce and rubbing cayenne pepper into her eyes, nose and mouth in recent weeks, pinching her and covering her nose and mouth to punitively cut off her breathing.

He was charged with four felonies in Clay County Court: neglect of a child, malicious punishment of a child and two counts of third-degree assault.