Man arrested for assaulting pregnant woman, giving her black eye

Dustin Allen Brown, 36, is being held without bond in the Ozark County Jail in connection with the alleged assault of an 8-month pregnant woman. 

According to the probable cause statement written by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Rhoades, the officer was at the sheriff’s office at 2 p.m. Aug. 4, when a verbal fight broke out between two men on the front lawn. Rhoades recognized Brown as one of the men engaged in the conflict. 

The deputy and Sheriff Cass Martin were able to run outside and break the fight up, the report says. 

“Through an investigation, it was revealed that Dustin Brown had assaulted his girlfriend, the other male’s daughter. I spoke to the female and observed a black left eye and an abrasion under her right eye,” Rhoades wrote in the report, detailing that the woman is 8 months pregnant. “She stated that Dustin Brown punched her three days ago and caused the black eye and hit her on Aug. 3, causing an abrasion to her right cheek.”

Rhoades’ report says that the woman said the violence was an ongoing concern, and she has been beaten on multiple occasions but was too afraid to report it due to his violent nature and past threats. 

Brown was questioned about the incidents and reportedly told the deputy that he and the woman were “wrestling” two or three nights before, and she had somehow gotten a black eye then, but he didn’t know how. 

He also reportedly said that the abrasion on the woman’s face was the results of another time they were “wrestling,” and she had hit her face on a dog kennel. 

Rhoades asked Brown if he thought it was safe for the woman or the baby inside her womb if they had “wrestled” to the point of her having a black eye. 

“He admitted it was not,” the report says. 

Brown is charged with second-degree domestic assault and endangering the welfare of a child and was scheduled to be arraigned before Associate Judge Raymond Gross Tuesday. 

Both charges are class D felonies, carrying a sentence of up to four years in prison if convicted. However, Brown is being charged as a prior and persistent offender based on his long criminal record, which means he’s subject to extended punishment if found guilty.