Man gets 4 years in prison for abusing son on video

BILLINGS, Mont. – A 34-year-old man has been sentenced to four years in prison after he was caught on camera punching and slamming his 6-year-old son to the ground.

The Billings Gazette reported that Christopher Bryan Yellowhawk was sentenced on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to felony assault on a minor.

Yellowhawk was arrested in June after the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office received the video, which shows Yellowhawk and others watching Yellowhawk’s son and another child wrestle. Yellowhawk scolded his son for pulling the other child’s hair and then punched the boy in the stomach before picking the child up and slamming him to the ground.

Yellowhawk’s attorney argued that medical examinations found no serious injuries to the child and said that the family is receiving counseling under the guidance of state agencies.