A Crow Wing County woman charged with five felony counts in connection to the abuse of all three of her children, one severely singled out, pleaded guilty to only two counts, and avoids prison under the terms of a plea deal.
Briana Katherine Jordan, 41, of Breezy Point, Minn., was initially charged in September 2025 with child torture and four counts of stalking for abuse that went on for at least five years starting in 2019 when the children were approximately 7 to 9 years of age, including two boys and one girl.
The criminal complaint says that all of the children suffered various instances of abuse, but Jordan singled out one of the boys who received the brunt of the maltreatment, including often feeding him rotten food and locking him in a dog cage for hours at a time.
Police and child protection services became involved with the family in October 2024 while responding to a welfare check after Jordan had attempted to commit suicide in the presence of the children.
One victim, described as Child A, later told interviewers that his mother had abused him for several years, including being locked in a dog kennel for hours during a 40th birthday party for the children’s father. While Child A was locked in the kennel with the dog for six to seven hours, he said Jordan gave him moldy grapes to eat. The child said it was not unusual for Jordan to lock him in rooms for hours on end and not feed him during that time.
Child A also stated that his school lunches for three to four years consisted of moldy food that was inedible, so he would go hungry at school. Child A’s siblings would be given appropriate food by Jordan, but Child A would be singled out with rotten food, court documents state.
Jordan’s husband and father to the children corroborated what Child A had told interviewers about the rotten food and said Jordan would switch out the lunches if he attempted to make lunch for Child A.
In another incident, Jordan was described as pouring a bottle of perfume down Child A’s throat after arriving home to find the child had burned a sock with a lighter he had found.
Child A described how Jordan would force him to drink hot sauce on a daily basis, often choke him, slap him at least 20 times a day, and beat him with a spatula. Jordan would also often wake the child in the middle of the night demanding back rubs. If the child didn’t perform to her standards, Jordan would elbow him sharply in the side.
One of the other children described to interviewers how after folding clothes incorrectly while they were living in Florida for a time, Jordan grabbed the child by his neck and arm and dragged him out of the house. The child’s back was injured after making contact with sharp green plastic carpeting. The same child also said that Jordan would slap him in the face, open-handed and back-handed.
The girl child told interviewers that Jordan told her children to lie and hide the rope that was used in the suicide attempt, and she told the children she would give them money if they lied to law enforcement. The girl described how Jordan had taught her how to lie and coached her to not talk to therapists, law enforcement, or child protection workers.
The girl said Jordan had grabbed her by the wrists hard enough to cause bruising, slapped the child leaving marks, and had thrown a phone at her.
The three children also described to interviewers how Jordan had abused their father by wrapping a torn shirt tightly around his neck and strangling him, chasing him with scissors, and breaking a chair on their father.
In August 2025, the children’s father told investigators that he had been married to his estranged wife, Jordan, for nearly 16 years and how Jordan has defined Child A as a horrible child and that Child A is a special target of Jordan. The children’s father confirmed the abuse of Child A from 2019 to October 2024, and the abuse of the other two children from 2022 until Jordan’s suicide attempt, when child protection became involved and the children were removed from her control.
Jordan pleaded guilty in April to two counts of stalking and was sentenced last month. A stay-of-imposition on the prison sentence on one of the stalking counts was ordered by Judge Kristine DeMay, and the other count of stalking received a stay-of-adjudication and will be dismissed if Jordan successfully completes probation.
Jordan was ordered to serve 90 days in jail and was placed on probation for a term of five years. Jordan will only be required to serve 60 days in jail under Minnesota’s two-thirds sentencing rule. Jordan is also subject to several other conditions of probation, including no contact with the children, with limited approved exceptions.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, there is help available 24 hours a day. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at: 988.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
