Georgia officials sentenced the adoptive parents of a 10-year-old boy to decades in prison for reportedly starving the child they "didn't want."
The Spalding County couple is also being accused of abusing their adoptive child and has taken a non-negotiated plea deal. The parents were identified as Krista and Tyler Schindley, who were sentenced to 40 years of imprisonment and 20 years of probation.
Parents Sentenced to Prison for Abuse of 10-Year-Old Stepson
The two individuals were also sentenced on several other charges, which will run concurrently with the prison and probation sentencing. During the sentencing, Judge Benjamin Coker with the Griffin Judicial Circuit said he had never seen a person do what the couple did to another human being.
The parents pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree cruelty to a child, two counts of false imprisonment, one count of criminal attempt to commit a felony, one count of aggravated battery, and one count of family violence battery, according to Atlanta News First.
Additionally, the mother pleaded guilty to three additional charges of aggravated assault. The case comes after authorities arrested the couple in May 2023. This was after a neighbor found their visibly malnourished 10-year-old stepson wandering around the area.
Griffin police described the young child as being thin and having discolored skin as well as visible injuries all over his body. Investigators added that the young boy weighed only 36 pounds when examined.
After authorities initially encountered the boy, he begged them not to take him back home to his adoptive parents. They later transferred him to the hospital, where medical professionals treated him for malnutrition and a low heart rate, Fox5Atlanta reported.
Locking Him Up and Starving Him
The arrest warrants against the parents revealed that prosecutors allege they locked the 10-year-old boy in his room for extended periods. This was a room with no lights and no access to clothes.
Additionally, the warrants noted that the couple knew that the boy had dental injuries and disfiguration but did not do anything to address them. They also allegedly inflicted abuse on their stepson while other children were present.
Following the couple's arrest, neighbors said that the Schindleys would typically leave their older kids at home for days as they went on vacations. Authorities reported that the Georgia Division of Family and Children's Service took custody of the other four children.
The prosecutor in the case alleges that the parents never wanted the boy, who was made to be the "sacrificial lamb" and "the cost" of adopting his twin siblings, as per Law and Crime.
Originally published on parentherald.com
