JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A former Newton County sheriff’s deputy has been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to abusing his infant daughter.

Fifty-three-year-old Kenneth Rush, of Joplin, was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to child abuse.

The Joplin Globe reported that emergency responders were called to Rush’s home in December 2017 because his 2-month-old daughter was having trouble breathing.

She was transferred to a Kansas City hospital, where doctors found injuries indicating abusive head trauma.

A probable cause statement says Rush initially said he didn’t know how the child was hurt while he was with her.

Rush was fired as a sheriff’s deputy after the investigation began.