The parents of a Colorado Springs teenager who was starved until he weighed less than 50 pounds were sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison.
In handing down the penalties, 4th Judicial District Judge Scott Sells said evidence introduced at Tonya and Bryan Ricks’ sentencing reflected “continuous and daily abuse” of their son between 2004 and 2009.
The couple also failed to get medical treatment for the boy’s seizure disorder, leaving him to suffer through as many as 12 seizures a day. Doctors said their cumulative effect, combined with the malnutrition, left the child bedridden at 14 — unable to speak, walk or even support his own body weight.
Bryan Ricks, 38, and Tonya Ricks, 34, had each faced 10 to 32 years in prison. They pleaded guilty in September to child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.
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