WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and SportsSpooner man sentenced to prison for beating toddler

Spooner man sentenced to prison for beating toddler

Eau Claire (WQOW) - A Spooner man involved in the Interstate 35 bridge collapse gets prison time for brutally beating a toddler.

Michael Stoner was sentenced to 7.5 years for beating his fiance's 2-year-old daughter Emma.

Stoner attacked Emma Manning the same day as the Interstate 35 bridge collapse. He and Emma's mother were in a car that plunged into the Mississippi River. Stoner told reporters the two swam to shore and ran to the hospital to be with the girl. What he didn't mention was that Emma was in the hospital there because she was beaten so badly she had to be flown to Minneapolis.

During the investigation, Washburn County Sheriff Terry Dryden discovered the maximum prison time for harming a child is 2.5 years less than for harming an adult. That lead to a bill by Senator Bob Jauch to increase the penalty to 10 years - the same as that for adult victims.

The sheriff says Emma cannot see or walk and that she'll need a feeding tube and continuous care for the rest of her life.