VAN NUYS : Man Sentenced for Beating Daughters

A Van Nuys man convicted of beating his 5- and 6-year-old daughters with a leather belt has been sentenced to nearly a year in jail, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Thursday.

Brian Keith Malone, 31, was found guilty of two counts each of unlawful corporal punishment, willful cruelty to a child and battery, City Atty. James K. Hahn said in a statement.

Van Nuys Municipal Judge Alice Altoon sentenced Malone on Tuesday to 360 days in jail, placed him on three years probation and ordered him to undergo rage management and child-abuse counseling.

A jury convicted Malone after 90 minutes of deliberation after a 17-day trial.

Judy Sellars, 35, who was living with Malone at the time of the beatings, was found guilty of interfering with a police investigation for an altercation with Los Angeles police officers who were responding to a child abuse complaint from Malone’s ex-wife, the mother of the two victims. Sellars was sentenced to two days in jail, fined $685 and sentenced to 45 days community service.

Malone’s ex-wife notified police Oct. 30 after discovering a red welt on her 6-year-old daughter’s back during a visit with her children, who are now in foster homes.

“When interviewed by the officers, the two victims said they had been beaten by their father with a leather belt he kept hanging on a bedroom door for that purpose,” Hahn said.