BROWN COUNTY -A Kansas man was sentenced this week for the serious beating of a two-year-old child.
Frank Lee Rodriguez, 25, Hiawatha, was found guilty after a bench trial in January.

On Monday a Brown County judge ordered Rodriguez to serve 52 months for aggravated battery, and an additional 34 months for felony abuse of a child, for a total sentence of more than seven years, according to the county attorney’s office.

Rodriguez originally denied hitting the child. He ultimately told Hiawatha police he got upset when the girl was not eating. He said he slammed her onto the floor and punched her in the head.

The child sustained severe head injuries in the beating on August 26, 2016.

She was released from the hospital in December.