MINDEN, Nev. (AP) — The head of the Democratic Party in a Nevada county has pleaded guilty to hitting his teenage son and throwing him on the hood of a car.

Douglas County Democratic Party chairman Paul Belt was charged Wednesday with a misdemeanor count of domestic battery. He was sentenced to a suspended one-year jail term and ordered to attend counseling.

Police say Belt repeatedly punched his 15-year-old son on Oct. 22 when he learned his son was no longer on his school's soccer team. Coaches intervened when Belt reportedly threw the boy on the car hood.

The Record-Courier says Belt has resigned as chairman in a letter Friday to the newspaper.

He says in the letter that he was not mad at his son but that he was frustrated by the team coaches.

Information from: Gardnerville Record-Courier, http://www.recordcourier.com