Joplin man bound over for trial on felony child abuse charge

A Joplin man was bound over for trial on a felony child abuse charge following a preliminary hearing Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court.

Adam Duncan, 29, will be arraigned in the trial division April 29. He is being held in the Jasper County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

Duncan and his girlfriend, Haley Kaitlynn Simpson, 26, Joplin, were arrested in December after the Joplin Police Department received a call from a local hospital about an abused four-year-old.

The alleged crime is described in the probable cause statement:

While living with his girlfriend, Haley Simpson, Adam Duncan spanked Simpson's four-year-old son as punishment for failing to use the toilet.

During this time, Simpson and Duncan both spanked (the child) with a bare hand to (the child's) bare skin. (The child) suffered finger-shaped bruises to his buttocks and waistline from the spankings.

Further, on December 5, 2018, Adam Duncan committed the crime of abuse of a child. During this instance, Duncan physically struck (the child's) head with his hand multiple times causing serious bleeding to the right side of his head. (The child) also had serious bruising to the back of his hands and thighs caused by physical abuse.

Simpson pleaded guilty March 27 and under a plea bargain agreement was given a suspended sentenced and placed on unsupervised probation for two years.