COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—An AWOL soldier accused of taking his baby from Colorado to Oklahoma in violation of a custody order has been sentenced to two years in community corrections.
Twenty-four-year-old Derik Hembree was sentenced Wednesday after having pleaded guilty to violating the order.
Authorities alleged the Army private took 1-month-old Brooke Hembree out of Colorado on Aug. 4. He was arrested Aug. 24 after delivering the baby unharmed to a fire station in Lawton, Okla. Hembree had been away without leave from the Army since May.
The Gazette reports () his attorney Roger Lucas said Wednesday that Hembree may have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time. The judge said that didn’t give Hembree license to ignore the law. He ordered a mental health evaluation and anger management classes.
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Information from: The Gazette,
