An Austin man who fractured an infant’s rib was sentenced to 21 months in prison Thursday in Mower County District Court.

Luke Dale Freland, 33, pleaded guilty to felony domestic assault, malicious punishment of a child and violating a no-contact order in February under a plea agreement involving two separate cases.

According to a court complaint, Freland and the adult victim argued during the morning of Dec. 17 when Freland allegedly pushed or pinched the infant’s throat to get him to stop crying.

Freland and the woman argued for a while more before he allegedly got up and threw her to the floor, where he grabbed her throat and covered her mouth. Freland told the victim to stop crying “or I will keep doing it until you pass out and no on can hear you,” according to the complaint. At one point, Freland allegedly grabbed a knife and told the victim to get back upstairs or else he would slit her throat.

He allegedly dragged the victim upstairs by her hair and prevented her from going outside to a balcony to yell for help, according to the complaint.

Freland allegedly dragged her to the bathroom and put her in a headlock. He took the victim’s cell phone and left the house at that point.

The victim reported the incident to the police and was taken to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, along with the infant. According to the complaint, the victim told hospital staff Freland would allegedly squeeze the infant, throw him into the air and push or pinch his neck to get him to stop crying. Medical staff noted multiple bruises on the infant’s arms, legs, body, sides and abdomen and transported him to Mayo Clinic Rochester — St. Marys Campus, where he underwent a CT scan. Doctors found the infant’s fifth and sixth ribs were fractured in what they classified as “non-accidental trauma.”

The victim called police on Dec. 30 to report an automated inmate message recorded on her phone. Law enforcement were called to the jail a few days later to inspect a letter Freland tried to send to a relative of the victim, which appeared to be for the victim instead.

Jailers would later turn over phone logs to deputies which showed Freland contacted the victim’s relative and the victim over the phone several times Jan. 1-4. In several calls, Freland allegedly gave the victim’s relative instructions to pass along to the victim as well as times he would call the victim on the relative’s phone.

During several of the calls, Freland told the victim to ask the court and his attorneys to drop the charges and claim everything had been fine between the two. Once that was done, Freland allegedly told the victim the most serious charges would be dropped and “Boom, I’m outta here! You know what I mean?” according to the complaint.