MISSOULA – A Missoula man pleaded guilty Tuesday to four different felony charges.
27-year-old Sean Duffield pleaded guilty to two counts of partner or family member assault, one count of aggravated assault and one count of endangering the welfare of children.
Those charges stem from an incident back in May of 2017.
Court documents accuse Duffield of assaulting his wife by punching, strangling and threatening to kill her with a knife, all in the presence of the couple’s two children who were 2 and 4-years-old at the time.
Court documents say that at one point during the assault the children’s mother told the 4-year-old try to get help from a neighbor’s house, at which point Duffield said “don’t listen to mommy.”
According to court documents Duffield then told the victim if she got the kids involved “I’ll hurt you worse and I’ll do it in front of them.”
In an interview with police Duffield admitted that he “snapped and attacked her” and that he didn’t remember much because he “blacked out.”
Both he and the victim told police that Duffield had an anger problem. According to interviews at the scene, the victim also told police that Duffield had strangled and assaulted her in the past.
Originally Duffield was to face eight total charges, but per a plea agreement the other four charges will be dropped, according to the Missoula County Attorney’s Office.
Duffield’s sentencing will be on Nov. 13 at 2:30 p.m.
