Man inflicts ‘child torture’ on partner’s kids, Texas officials say. He’s prison bound

A business owner convicted of torturing his partner’s young children for a year will now spend decades in prison, Texas officials say.

The 45-year-old, who owned a Houston-based moving company, was found guilty of two counts of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said.

A Harris County judge sentenced him to two life terms in prison, according to the district general. The man is eligible for parole in 30 years.

“This man intentionally tortured two little kids and now, hopefully, he will spend the rest of his life in prison,” Ogg said in a July 3 news release.

McClatchy News is not identifying the suspect to protect the identity of the victims.

The man was tasked with caring for his partner’s children, ages 3 and 4, when she was at work, Ogg said. Instead, he inflicted “child torture” on the kids, who were left with severe injuries while in his care.

Officials said caseworkers began investigating the abuse in May 2020 and the children were removed from their mother’s custody.

The boy, who was almost 5, was discovered to be “severely malnourished,” weighing just 32 pounds, the district attorney said.

“Medical personnel testified that he looked like a skeleton,” Ogg said. “He had multiple broken bones in various stages of healing and permanent brain-tissue loss.”

His 3-year-old sister, officials say, was also suffering from blunt-force injuries, including broken ribs, a severe intestinal injury, as well as bed sores.

Both kids had broken pelvises and ligature marks across their bodies “that left permanent scars,” the release states.

Authorities said the man restrained the children with zip ties and withheld food from them. The torture, doctors said, was physical and mental, according to the district attorney.

“At a time in their lives when they should have been shown love and affection, these two children were shown violence and fear — they’ve lost their innocence,” assistant district attorney Ashlea Sheridan said. “They will have to live the rest of their lives with the effects of what this man did to them, and so should he.”

This story was originally published July 3, 2024 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Man inflicts ‘child torture’ on partner’s kids, Texas officials say. He’s prison bound."