Richfield Man Charged with Hitting Daughter with Belt

A Richfield man faces possible deportation after being charged with repeatedly hitting his 11-year-old daughter with a belt when the two argued over his command of English.

Francisco Javier Villanueva-Xinaxtl, 55, is charged with malicious punishment of a child, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, signed by Richfield Police Detective Patrick Moriarty, police were called to an apartment in the 7500 block of Cedar Avenue South just before 9 p.m. Aug. 17 to investigate a reported assault.

Dispatchers told officers that neighbors could hear a person being assaulted in one of the apartments.

When police arrived, they found the 11-year-old victim, with multiple marks on her arms and legs. She told police that she lives in the apartment with Villanueva-Xinaxtl, her father, and that she had been doing homework when she began arguing with him about his English-speaking ability.

As the argument escalated, Villanueva-Xinaxtl removed his belt and began to chase the child around the apartment, hitting her arms and legs about 10 times, according to the complaint.

Villanueva-Xinaxtl was arrested, and he admitted to officers that he had argued with his daughter and that he had removed his belt and repeatedly struck her with it.

Villanueva-Xinaxtl remains in the Hennepin County Jail on an $18,000 bond. He is also being held on an immigration violation. He was scheduled to make a first appearance on the charge Aug. 21 in Hennepin County District Court.