A 21-year-old Avon man has been charged with felony malicious punishment of a child after an infant was taken for medical care with bruising and other suspected injuries, according to a criminal complaint reported by WJON.
The child was born in April 2026 and was not yet able to move independently when the injuries were reported, the complaint alleges. Doctors described bruising and possible fractures near the lower leg and forearm, along with a possible mouth injury. The complaint says the injuries prompted a report to police.
What investigators allege
The complaint alleges that home-surveillance video showed Jack Tollefson handling the infant roughly, including swinging and forcefully bouncing her, pushing her into a couch and holding her by the chin and legs. Investigators also alleged that he became frustrated when the child cried.
According to the complaint, the infant had bruises on her ankle, thigh and jaw when Tollefson and the child's mother sought medical care near the end of July. Investigators said the mother was not seen handling the infant in the same manner and that foster parents later reported no additional bruising. Those observations and the video descriptions are allegations, not findings that Tollefson is guilty.
How Minnesota law applies
Minnesota's malicious-punishment statute provides for up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both, when punishment of a child younger than 4 causes bodily harm to the head, eyes or neck or causes multiple bruises, according to the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. The statute describes the potential penalty; prosecutors would still have to prove the charged offense in court.
Why injuries in nonmobile infants receive special scrutiny
The medical concern in this case fits a broader reason clinicians carefully evaluate unexplained bruising in very young children. A 2022 review in Pediatrics in Review, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, says infants younger than 12 months are maltreated at more than twice the rate of any other child age group and emphasizes evidence-based evaluation of bruising.
That guidance provides medical context for why doctors may report injuries in a nonmobile infant; it does not establish what happened in this case. Likewise, the federal Child Maltreatment 2023 report describes abuse and neglect known to child-protective-services agencies during fiscal year 2023. Such administrative data describe reports or agency cases, not guilt in an individual criminal prosecution.
The criminal complaint remains the source of the case-specific allegations. A charge is not a conviction, and the available account does not establish the cause of every reported injury or the eventual outcome of the case.
