MOORHEAD, Minn. -– A Moorhead man is accused of abusing his 2-month-old daughter, including rubbing hot sauce and cayenne pepper in her eyes and blocking her airway until she turned blue.

Shawn Michael Foltz, 31, was charged Friday, June 9, in Clay County District Court with four felonies: neglect of a child, malicious punishment of a child and two counts of third-degree assault.

A criminal complaint alleges Foltz also snapped his daughter with a towel, sprayed her with hot water that caused burns and threw fireworks in her face.

According to the complaint:

The abuse occurred from about April 10 until May 30, when the baby’s mother brought her to the Essentia Health emergency room. There, police officers saw the baby had dark bruises over both eyes, red marks on her back and a bruise on her shoulder.

The mother told police the baby and her 3-year-old brother had been left in the care of their father at home earlier in the evening. She said Foltz claimed the injuries were caused by the older child hitting the baby with a toy gun.

In an interview with police, Foltz said he caused the injuries by snapping the baby in the face with a towel. He also talked about being frustrated with her crying, and using a wooden spoon and a piece of vinyl flooring to hit her on the bottom.

Foltz also told police that while at work, he would think about ways to harm the baby, the complaint said.