North Mankato woman beat daughter with phone cord, say charges

A North Mankato woman stands accused of beating her daughter with a cell phone cord.

Rebecca Nyakot Hoth, 37, was charged in Nicollet County Court Tuesday with malicious punishment of a child and domestic assault.

According to the criminal complaint, a neighbor called 911 on Christmas Eve to report that Hoth’s daughter ran outside wearing shorts in blizzard conditions. The girl told the neighbor she did not feel safe, then went back inside her home.

A North Mankato Police officer arrived at the home and spoke with the 14-year-old girl, who was visibly crying. The teen said her mother followed her into a bedroom and began whipping her with a charging cord.

A phone cord was on the bend, and the officer observed raised welts, consistent with the cord, all over the victim’s body.

Hoth allegedly threatened to shave the girl’s head during the whipping. The girl told police Hoth is often mean, calls her ugly, and tells her she smells.

Hoth admitted to whipping the victim with the phone cord.

Police also spoke to a 9-year-old in the home who was allegedly hit with a charger several months earlier. Police saw a 5-inch scar on the child’s leg that allegedly resulted from that incident.

Police say Hoth became angry when asked her about the scar on the 9-year-old’s leg. She left the bedroom and began to yell at two of the children for speaking to the police.

In a follow-up visit from North Mankato Police, the victim said she did not feel completely safe with Hoth. Hoth could not confirm the victim would be safe at the residence, according to the complaint.

Hoth said she wanted all of her daughters to live somewhere else because she did not want them anymore, says the charging document.