Kenosha man accused of whipping 9-year-old with belt over candy cane pleads guilty

KENOSHA COUNTY -- A Kenosha man, accused of child abuse after officials say he whipped a nine-year-old girl with a belt over a candy cane has reached a plea deal in the case against him.

33-year-old Louis Morgan on Monday, March 20th pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse, intentionally causing harm.

Prosecutors say Morgan whipped a nine-year-old girl with a belt because she had taken a candy cane without permission and was attempting to mail it to Santa Claus along with her Christmas wish list.

According to a criminal complaint, a nine-year-old girl reported to her elementary school teacher that her side was hurting because she had a bruise. She told the teacher Morgan Jr. gave her a "whooping" the night before. The girl explained Morgan Jr. told her not to take candy canes off the Christmas tree, so she took one out of the box -- stating to her teacher she thought that was acceptable since the candy did not come from the tree.

The complaint states police arrested Morgan and conducted an interview. He stated to investigators he told the nine-year-old not to take candy canes off the Christmas tree, and when he found out she had addressed an envelope to Santa Claus containing the candy cane, he was upset she had disobeyed him.

In the criminal complaint, Morgan stated he "kinda yelled at her" for taking the candy cane and told her that there was no Santa Claus. He told the girl Santa was not bringing her presents.

According to the criminal complaint, Morgan then "whipped her with a belt" on her body, legs and arms approximately seven to 13 times with the full length of the belt.

Morgan told investigators after whipping the girl, he searched and found another candy cane and a gold necklace that he believed she had stolen from someone else.