A Frankfort man accused of choking and punching a 5-year-old boy pleaded not guilty to the charges against him during his initial appearance in Franklin Circuit Court Friday.

Zachary Colston, 31, entered the plea to charges of first-degree strangulation, a Class C felony; first-degree wanton endangerment, a Class D felony; and fourth-degree assault (child abuse), a Class A misdemeanor.

According to his arrest citation, the victim’s grandmother told Frankfort Police that the 5-year-old was assaulted by his mother’s boyfriend.

“The child stated he was choked by his dad with two hands causing him to not be able to breathe and (that he was) punched multiple times in the back,” FPD Officer Daniel Quire wrote in the report and noted that “the child was covered in old bruises and fresh marks from being hit.”

The arrest report also says that the child stated “he was punished by his daddy.”

Colston remains in the Franklin County Regional Jail, where he has been held since Oct. 2, on a $50,000 full-cash bond. Franklin Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate said Friday that bond would be addressed at a later date.