Red Wing Couple Child Abuse Plea Deal

A married Red Wing couple have made plea deals after being charged with 16 crimes related to the alleged extensive abuse of their four children under 10 years old.

According to Goodhue County District Court, 42-year old Benjamin Cotton has entered a guilty plea to one count of child torture-liability for the crimes of another. His wife, 39-year old Christina Cotton, has pleaded guilty to one count of child torture. 

According to criminal complaints, the couple routinely held their young children in locked cages for 13 to 14 hours a day, beat them with a belt and withheld food and access to a bathroom.

Goodhue County Health and Human Services began investigating the couple in August of 2022 after a caller reported that they were keeping a 5-year-old locked up in a wooden "cage" and subjecting the child and three other children in the home, ages 9, 7 and 2 to neglect and unreasonable punishment. 

Sentencing is scheduled in Goodhue County District Court December 13.