Lang
4/24/22
A Cedar County man with a history of assault and child endangerment charges is now accused of shooting an eight-year-old boy with a pellet gun in Shueyville.
The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office was called to a residence on Club Road NE for a weapons offense just before 9:45 Saturday night. Witnesses say 31-year-old Matthew Venard of Stanwood shot the boy in the leg with an airsoft gun. Further investigation determined that Venard had also spit in the boy’s face and yelled obscenities at him.
Johnson County deputies say Venard has a history of child endangerment and assault charges. In 2011, Venard was convicted for Willful Injury Causing Bodily Injury in Mills County and felony drug charges out of Pottawattamie County. Also in Pottawattamie County, a 2nd Degree Sexual Abuse charge was pleaded down to Contributing to the Delinquency on a Minor in 2009.
Venard is now charged with Child Endangerment and Assault following the Saturday night incident in Shueyville. If convicted on both charges he faces a maximum of 25 months in jail.