BUNNELL — A Palm Coast man convicted of punching a 16-year-old disabled girl during a fracas outside the Epic Theaters of Palm Coast in 2016 was sentenced to a month in jail and two years of probation.
A jury convicted C.J. Nelson, 40, of Port Echo Lane, of two misdemeanor counts of battery March 20 following a two-day trial.
One of the charges Nelson faced during his trial was child abuse, but jurors convicted him of the lesser battery count instead.
Circuit Judge Dennis Craig on Friday ordered Nelson to report to the Flagler County jail May 11 to begin serving a 30-day sentence. Nelson will serve out his sentence over the next 10 weekends. he will report to the jail on Fridays and be released by 7 p.m. on Sundays, according to the ruling.
Craig also ordered Nelson to serve a year of probation for both counts and take anger management courses.
Nelson’s charges were the result of an Oct. 21, 2016 incident at the Palm Coast movie theaters in which Nelson got involved. One witness videotaped it with a cell phone and that footage was turned over to deputies.
The altercation stemmed from a fight Nelson’s daughter had with the disabled teen one day prior. When Nelson’s daughter spotted the teen standing in line with her older sister, she left and came back moments later with a large group that included Nelson.
He began arguing with the teen victim’s 19-year-old sister and took a punch at her. When the victim stepped in between the two, he punched her in the face. The girl has a disability in her left eye.