Mason City man pleads not guilty to assaulting woman and child

MASON CITY — A Mason City man accused of assaulting a woman and her child and then stealing her vehicle has pleaded not guilty.

Law enforcement says 38-year-old Erik Childs assaulted a woman he’d been living with on August 25th, choking her and leaving multiple scratches on her neck. When one of the victim’s children attempted to stop Childs by jumping on his back, Childs allegedly slammed the back of his head into the child’s face, leaving the child with a swollen lump on the right side of the forehead and swelling around the eye. Childs is then accused of taking the woman’s van, saying he was going to destroy it.

Childs was charged with second-degree theft, domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury, and assault causing bodily injury. He entered pleas of not guilty to the charges this week. His trial is scheduled to start on December 3rd. He remains in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on a total of $15,000 bond.