Tougher child abuse laws spring from Minneapolis bridge collapse event

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A man who misled the nation about being a hero during the Minneapolis bridge collapse in 2007 might end up doing good after all.

Michael Stoner of Spooner was sent to prison for 7.5 years for brutally beating his fiance’s 2-year-old daughter, Emma.

In investigating the case, Washburn County Sheriff Terry Dryden discovered that the maximum prison time for harming a child is 2.5 years less than for harming an adult.

So he got Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar, to sponsor a bill to increase the penalty for great bodily child harm to 10 years, the same as that for adult victims.

Jauch says he’s not sure it would really deter child abusers, but it would create equal penalties for harming kids and adults.

Stoner attacked young Emma Manning the same day Interstate-35 collapsed.

He told national reporters his car plunged into the Mississippi River, and he and his fiancee swam to shore and ran to the hospital so they could be with the girl. What Stoner didn’t say was that he beat Emma so badly, she had to be flown from Spooner to Minneapolis and that’s why the couple was speeding there. Stoner got 7.5 years in prison, plus five years of extended supervision for reckless injury and obstructing an officer.

But Dryden says that’s nothing, considering that his victim will have a life sentence.

He said Emma cannot see or walk, she needs a feeding tube, and she’ll need continuous care the rest of her life.

Tags: bridge collapse, child abuse, wisconsin