A North Platte man is facing child abuse charges after he allegedly slapped his friend’s child in the face.

At around 7:30 p.m., on August 30, North Platte police responded to a reported child abuse in the 200 block of South Chestnut Street.

Officers met with a 5-year-old male, his father, and a witness.

Investigator John Deal says it was reported that the child had been playing with a Sharpie-type marker when Michael Nelson told him he couldn’t play with it.

The investigation revealed that Nelson then took the marker and slapped the child in the face with an open hand. Deal said the child had red marks on his face consistent with being slapped.

Deal says Nelson was not the child’s father and lived in a camper parked at the residence.

Officers made contact with Nelson and placed him under arrest for child abuse.

He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.