BOULDER — A tearful Molly Midyette drew 16 years in prison for ignoring the injuries that led to the death of her baby boy.
Judge Lael Montgomery said she failed to protect or care for 10-week-old Jason and ignored the brutal treatment for which her husband, Alex, is charged.
Jason was found to have more than 20 broken bones as well as head injuries that led to his death in 2006.
Alex Midyette remains free on a $750,000 bond and faces a May 27 child-abuse trial.
Molly Midyette’s inaction led to the infant’s death, said Boulder County Deputy District Attorney Colette Cribari. “He never got to throw a snowball; he never got to taste ice cream,” Cribari said of Jason.
Throughout her trial in December, prosecutors said injuries were evident in the days before Jason was finally taken to a hospital and placed on life support. He died two days later.
Molly Midyette, 29, was profoundly indifferent to the child, Montgomery said.
“Perhaps you willed yourself not to see and not to know; perhaps you did see how much that baby suffered,” Montgomery said. “The court cannot see into your heart.”
She was convicted of child abuse resulting in death and could have received 48 years in prison.
The Boulder County probation department recommended a sentence of between 16 and 20 years.
Cribari suggested the judge sentence Midyette to the full 20 years.
Midyette maintains she had no idea that the baby was being brutalized. “If I even thought that he was, I would have done something,” she told the judge prior to her sentencing.
How could she have not known the child was suffering when his bones were repeatedly broken, Cribari argued.
“If she didn’t know, why didn’t she know? … Mothers can read the different cries of their babies. They know everything about their baby,” Cribari told the judge. “She has shown no remorse for her inaction. Not once has she stood up and said, “I should have done something.”
Midyette’s charcoal-gray turtleneck was cinched at the waist by a thick chain connecting shackles that bound her wrists and ankles. The chains clinked quietly as she walked into the Boulder County court room.
She clutched a tissue as she told the judge there is more to her story than what came out at trial. She occasionally sobbed during the short proceeding.
“I suffered the worst punishment ever when I lost Jason. I will continue to suffer for the rest of my life,” she told the judge.
Midyette’s parents, Dan and Jane Bowers, who spoke at the sentencing, said there is new information that will someday clear her.
“Until then, we will keep a light shining,” said Jane Bowers.
Both cried when Montgomery issued her sentence.
“It is unlikely you are any threat to the community as a whole,” Montgomery said, as she handed down the lowest sentence recommended in her pre-sentencing report. “The evidence suggests that questions could be raised about the strength of the mother-infant bond,” she added.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
