Abusive St. Paul man's sentence includes anger management, counseling

A St. Paul man accused of assaulting his year-old daughter with pepper spray and beating the child's mother was sentenced Wednesday to time-served and 10 years of probation.

Brandon V. Clark, 21, pleaded guilty in November to first-degree burglary, terroristic threats and unlawful possession of tear gas in connection with the incident in the early morning of July 15 on St. Paul's West Side.

According to the criminal complaint, Clark kicked down the door of his child's mother's apartment, starting a chain of events that involved threatening the mother and a female friend with a silver handgun that eventually proved to be a replica. Clark grabbed the child and tried to run away, but the women fought Clark and succeeded in pulling the girl from him.

Clark threw the mother against a wall, causing the child's head to hit the wall, too, the complaint said. He then squirted pepper spray into the child's face and hit the mother several times on the head. He fled when neighbors responded to the women's screams for help. The child was not severely hurt.

Ramsey County District Judge Margaret (Peg) Marrinan stayed prison sentences of 15 months for burglary and 21 months for terroristic threats.

She put Clark on probation for 10 years, gave him credit for 132 days he has spent in custody and fined him $1,000. She set several probation conditions including anger management classes and domestic counseling, no contact with the victims and full-time employment.

PAT PHEIFER