SWAN, Iowa (AP) — A man has been accused of using a cattle prod to discipline two children in south-central Iowa. Court records say 36-year-old Travis Coker, of rural Swan in Marion County, pleaded not guilty Thursday to two counts of felony child endangerment causing injury. The records don’t show a trial date. Criminal complaints say the girls reported that Coker used the prod to shock them as a “form of discipline.”

Marion County Sheriff Jason Sandholdt says the 11- and 13-year-old girls weren’t doing their chores fast enough on the family farm, so Coker decided to use the prod — a hand-held rod that delivers an electric shock to control livestock. The court records also say Coker and his wife corroborated the girls’ statements.