A Denver father on Thursday pleaded guilty to child abuse in a case that left his four young sons in squalor, unable to speak in more than grunts.
Wayne Sperling accepted a plea agreement in Denver District Court and pleaded guilty to one felony count of child abuse naming all four boys. The original six charges were dropped.
As part of the agreement, prosecutors agreed not to ask for a sentence of more than seven years in prison, but the judge still has discretion to sentence him to more time.
The 67-year-old also may be sentenced to probation.
Sperling, who remains free on bail, faces sentencing Dec. 30.
The boys’ mother, 36-year-old Lorinda Bailey, and was sentenced last week to 90 days in the Denver jail and five years of probation.
Bailey and Sperling were arrested in October 2013 after police removed the four malnourished boys from the squalid apartment.
The boys — ages 2, 4, 5 and 6 at the time — were not potty-trained, according to an arrest affidavit.
District Court Judge Eric Elliff described the conditions in which the boys were raised as horrific.
The boys are together and improving, prosecutors said.
During Bailey’s sentencing hearing on Nov. 7, her attorney, Chelsea Reiss, painted her client as a woman who was sexually and physically assaulted as a child by family members and abused by Sperling, the father of her sons.
Bailey told the judge she worked 12-hour days to support the boys. “When it came to taking care of the kids, I did the best I could,” Bailey said.
On Thursday, Sperling dangled his pipe and cap in his hands as he waited for his attorney to arrive.
After each of the judge’s questions, Sperling answered with a quick, quiet response.
and was sent to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo for a competency exam. He was found competent to stand trial.
Denver Detective Teresa Gessler testified at Bailey’s hearing last week that after the boys were taken away from Bailey and Sperling, they were given a sandwich, an apple and a carton of milk. The boys, who communicated through grunts and physical contact, patted the sandwiches and rolled the apples on the floor like toys.
Jordan Steffen: 303-954-1794, jsteffen@denverpost.com or twitter.com/jsteffendp
