Carthage police say a five-year-old Carthage girl is in a hospital in Springfield after her father physically abused her, causing a broken leg and severe bruising, because she was disobedient.
Lance Christopher Breeding, 27, Carthage, is being held in the Jasper County Detention Center on $50,000, cash-only bond on Monday, facing one felony charge of abuse or neglect of a child.
A written release from the Carthage Police Department said officers responded to the home on North Garrison Avenue at 4 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 12, for a report of a child with a broken leg and severe bruising on her back buttocks and legs.
The girl was taken to Mercy Carthage Hospital, then transferred to Mercy Hospital in Springfield where doctors performed surgery to repair a broken right femur.
Police said Breeding told detectives he spanked his daughter for being disobedient, and later, when she wasn’t cleaning her room, he pushed her into her room, causing her to hit her dresser.
Police said Breeding told them he picked her up because she said her leg hurt and checked her leg without finding anything wrong. He told officers he put her back down on the floor, then she wouldn’t get back up, so he kicked her in the leg, telling her to get up.
Police said the child’s mother told detectives Breeding told her he grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the dresser.
The mother was in the living room and heard a loud thud followed by screaming by the girl.
When the mother ran into the bedroom, her daughter was lying on the floor on her side with her leg in the air, bent because she couldn’t straighten it.
Police arrested Breeding and transported him to the Jasper County Detention Center where he was still in custody as of late Monday.
