Carthage man arrested for child abuse

A man from Carthage has been arrested on charges of child abuse after Carthage Police conducted an investigation into injuries a 5-year-old girl had suffered.

Read the full press release from Carthage Police below:

On 01/12/2019, the Carthage Police Department took a report of a 5-year-old female with a broken leg and severe bruising on her back, buttocks and legs. She was transported to Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri from Mercy McCune Brooks in Carthage for surgery on a broken, right femur.

The detectives’ investigation revealed that the father, 27-year-old Lance Christopher Breeding, physically abused the child. Lance told detectives he spanked his daughter for being disobedient and later, wasn’t cleaning her room, pushed her into her room causing her to hit her dresser. He picked her up because she said her leg hurt and checked her leg without finding anything wrong. He sat her back down on the floor. She wouldn’t get back up so he kicked her leg telling her to get up.

The child’s mother, Mystic Foresee, told detectives Lance told her he grabbed her by the arm and threw her into the dresser. She was in the living room and heard a loud thud followed by screaming from her daughter. When Mystic ran into the bedroom her daughter was laying on the floor on her side with her leg in the air and bent because she couldn’t straighten it out.

Lance was arrested and charged with Child Abuse. He’s currently in custody at the Jasper County Jail with a $50,000 cash only bond.