BOARDMAN TWP., Ohio - A Boardman dad has been found guilty of inducing panic, after changing his plea to no contest in a unique discipline case. 

Twenty-five-year-old Vernon Barrett, Jr. was charged in September after a "prank" on his six-year-old daughter went wrong. 

On Tuesday, Barrett appeared in court and changed his plea to no contest, at which time a judge found him guilty of inducing panic. As a result of the change of plea, one charge of child endangering was dropped. 

Barrett was sentenced to 180 days in jail, with all but four suspended. Barrett was also placed on probation for a year. 

Sergeant Chuck Hillman with Boardman Police says in his 28 years, "This is the first time where a parent has done something like this."

Just before 10:30 pm a woman called 911 saying that a small child was being chased by a man in a clown mask and the child had jumped into her vehicle. According to a police report, the woman later told officers that the man in the mask pulled the girl from the car. 

The girl then reportedly ran into an unlocked neighboring apartment and asked the family inside if she could stay there because a clown was chasing her.  

When officers went to check on the girl, who was still hiding inside the apartment, they told her that it was just her father in the mask. However, according to the report, the girl was not reassured and ran into a back bedroom to hide. 

Forty-eight-year-old Dion Santiago, who lived in the apartment, told police that when the girl ran in, he turned off the lights, looked out the apartment window and saw a man dressed in a clown mask on the lawn outside. 

According to the report, Santiago told officers that he grabbed his firearm and fired one gunshot out of the window. The report goes on to say that Santiago later told officers that he had not pointed the gun at the man in the mask, or into the air. 

Police say that they smelled alcohol on Santiago, who reportedly admitted to officers that he was drinking a few beers while watching a fight on TV when the girl came into his apartment. 

Barrett, who, according to the report, admitted to police that he was "playing a prank" on his daughter. 

The report says that Barrett told officers that the girl's mother is currently in jail for child endangering and that he could not discipline the girl because of past trauma.