Ex-con who filmed himself HANGING his girlfriend’s daughter, 2, with a scarf in storage unit until she passed out is jailed for up to 52 years
- David Coleman, 38, took his girlfriend’s daughter to an Omaha, Nebraska, storage unit, where he filmed himself repeatedly hanging the two-year-old girl
- Later that day, he choked her with the same scarf while she was in her car seat
- The girl’s mom learned of the crime while perusing through his phone pictures
- Coleman, a convicted sex felon, previously did time for breaking a child’s bones
A convicted sex offender who repeatedly choked his girlfriend’s toddler to unconsciousness with a scarf will spend up to 52 years in prison after being sentenced for the ‘disturbing’ child abuse case.
David J. Coleman, 38, was given the maximum sentence to two counts of child abuse resulting in serious bodily in a Nebraska court Tuesday by Douglas County District Judge Duane Dougherty.
‘There was extreme violence here,’ Dougherty said when handing the sentence, according to The Omaha World-Herald.
‘When someone harms a child that age, or no matter the age, in that nature it’s as bad as it gets.’
Coleman used his cell phone to film his little victim struggling to breathe as he choked her – for at least a minute each time – on numerous occasions.
David J. Coleman, 38, filmed himself repeatedly hanging a two-year-old girl with a pink scarf
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the crimes were incomprehensible.
‘It’s beyond what anybody would think someone is capable of doing,’ Kleine said. ‘As disturbing a child abuse case as we’ve ever seen.’
Coleman was arrested last December after the tot’s mother discovered a video while scrolling through her boyfriend’s phone.
The footage showed Coleman, who has nine prior convictions, ‘hanging her two-year-old daughter with a pink scarf, by her neck, from a shelving unit,’ according to a previously-filed court affidavit.
He took the girl to an Omaha storage unit to commit the crime.
‘The victim hanged by the neck, losing the ability to breathe and losing consciousness. The suspect [then] could be seen grabbing her roughly by the chest and lifting her with the ligature still tied to her neck to release pressure just enough to allow her to breathe, gasp, cry and gurgle, before dropping her in a hanging position, again, only to restart the previous cycle.’
Months before attacking the toddler, he served time for breaking the bones of another child
Police said a second video filmed later the same day showed Coleman using the same pink scarf to nearly strangle the child while she sat in her car seat.
The scarf was bound around her neck so tight that she couldn’t speak or even cry, the court document said.
‘The victim can be seen on video turning red and blue in the face,’ an Omaha detective wrote in a police report. ‘[She] appeared to try crying but was unable to because the ligature was pulled so tightly by the suspect to stop her from breathing, speaking or crying.’
Coleman, of Omaha, was convicted in 2004 of first-degree sexual assault of a minor
Coleman was previously convicted for child abuse for breaking a child’s bones and burning them with a heating pad, the Omaha World-Herald reported.
He was released from prison about four months before turning on the two-year-old girl.
Coleman was also convicted in 2004 of first-degree sexual assault of a minor. He is listed on Nebraska’s sex offender registry.
The child’s mother said in a victim impact statement that the assault ‘changed this child’s life in ways we may never know.’
Coleman apologized during his sentencing hearing, claiming to be ‘mortified’ by his behaviour.
‘It’s a struggle every day for me,’ he said. ‘I’m very sorry.’
Coleman, a nine-time felon, was sentenced to 52 years, but will be eligible for parole after serving 42 years.