Eagan Police Arrest Woman Sought for Beating Children

An Eagan woman charged last week with beating her three children with a metal-studded belt has been arrested.

Tiffany Leshawn Bentford, 37, faces three counts of malicious punishment of a child. The charges are gross misdemeanors, each of which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

Bentford was arrested Monday in Eagan. She remained in the Dakota County Jail Tuesday, awaiting a bail hearing.

The criminal complaint accuses Bentford of awakening her three daughters, all younger than 18, at 1 a.m. on May 24 and beating them with a metal-studded belt. The complaint says Bentford was upset about photos that one of the girls had posted online.

Bentford admitted to police that she woke up the girls to confront them about the photos, and that she had used a belt with decorative metal studs to “spank” the girls, according to the complaint.