Stearns County Jury Acquits Sartell Man of Child Abuse

ST. CLOUD -- A Sartell man charged with child abuse has been acquitted of the charges.

Twenty-three-year-old Brandon Roske was charged with 3rd-degree assault to a victim under four-years old and child maltreatment of a five-month-old boy back in December 2017.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge of 3rd-degree assault back in October.

According to the criminal complaint, Roske told investigators he tried to calm the child and put the boy on his stomach on a marble countertop. Roske said he was going to change the child and when he turned away to get towels, he heard a loud thud. He said it had appeared the child "headbutted" the countertop.

During that time, a doctor testified the redness and bruising on the boy's temple and in his left eye were consistent with a blow to the face or head with a hand, not at "headbutt".

In a jury trial this week, a Stearns County jury found Roske not guilty of the charges filed against him.