A man who was accused of torturing, starving, and locking up his 13-year-old stepson pleaded guilty to assault causing serious physical injury on Wednesday.
Truman Sitting Eagle, who is 36 years old, could spend at least 10 years in federal jail and up to life in prison.
He will be sentenced on July 9 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, by Judge Alan B. Johnson of the US District Court for Wyoming.
Sitting Eagle made a plea deal on April 4, but the federal prosecutor’s office has not shared the specifics of the deal with the public.
Kandace, Sitting Eagle’s wife, is charged with multiple felonies related to her son’s injuries and claimed weeks of confinement, but she has not pleaded guilty or been found guilty. Her trial is still going on.
Back Pain, Also
The boy hadn’t been to school for a few days before December 12.
Court papers say that School Resource Officer Matt Lee went to the boy’s house several times to look for him but was always turned away by the Sitting Eagles.
But on December 12, Lee wouldn’t leave until he saw the boy.
The boy was found in a crawl space under the house. Truman Sitting Eagle had told the boy to hide there when Lee came up behind them.
The boy was less fat than the last time Lee saw him. An statement used as proof in the case says he was hungry and hurt.
At the Primary Children’s Hospital, Dr. Kristine Campbell checked out the boy. The document says that she said the boy had cuts and bruises, as well as a broken right nasal bone and healing lumbar fractures in his spine. He was said to have had another serious injury that Cowboy State Daily has decided not to report.
Forensic interviews were done with the boy’s five half-siblings, all of whom are younger than 9.
The statement says that a little girl promised that the boy had a lock on his door.
A different girl said she doesn’t like it when her brother gets hurt.
“It hurts the boy sometimes, and he can’t walk,” Jensen said, adding that the boy “screams when Truman Sittingeagle hits his legs.”
“By beating him up,” another child said, confirming what the document says.
The boy allegedly told the police that he was locked up in his room because he had stolen snacks and was in trouble. He said that his mom would make fun of him and ask him if he wanted to hang out with the other kids. He also said that both of his parents would hit him.
