Wisconsin man gets 10 years in jail for burning girlfriend's son, 2, with lighter after she didn't answer calls
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: A Wisconsin man, who was arrested and charged for repeatedly burning his girlfriend's two-year-old son because he was mad at his mother, will be spending more than a decade behind bars.
MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported that the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office began investigating Lamont Powell, 30, after the victim's biological father, George Harrell, took him to the emergency room at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin on September 23 last year.
Harrell had picked up his son from Powell's place and noticed injuries on the toddler's body. He had patterned burns to his cheek, armpit, chest, and stomach which had the typical appearance of those that had been inflicted by a lighter.
Judy Guinn, a child abuse pediatrician at the hospital, told authorities that the "burns would have been extremely painful when they occurred and would have continued to cause pain and discomfort until medical treatment and pain management were initiated."
When investigators questioned Powell, who also has a biological child with the victim's mother, he initially claimed the burns were "accidental" but later admitted to causing the injuries on September 21 when he was alone at home with the victim and his child.
He admitted he became "mad" at the toddler's mother for not answering her phone and burned him multiple times and told investigators, "That little [expletive] like fire."
This past Tuesday, Powell was sentenced to a maximum term of 10 years and six months for child abuse with a high probability of great harm, according to Wisconsin court records. He was also sentenced to an additional five-year maximum for a charge of neglecting a child (consequence is bodily harm).
The 30-year-old's two sentences were designated to be served consecutively, which means he will have to serve one after the other. He will be given credit for the 159 days he has already spent behind bars as well.
Furthermore, Powell will be eligible to participate in the Wisconsin Substance Abuse Program after serving eight years and will have to serve five years of extended supervision after release.
In a Facebook post, Harrell said he was "blindsided" by the district attorney, who had led him to believe that Powell would spend 60 years in prison — 35 years of incarceration followed by 25 years of extended supervision.
"However at today’s hearing she agreed, without my knowledge, to dropped the most serious charge which carried 40yrs, and allowed him to plead to the lesser two charges that carried a total exposure of 20 yrs," he wrote.
"I am grateful the judge sentenced him to the maximum amount of incarceration possible, but I am still unsettled behind the district attorney blindsiding me. I am at a loss of words but I know it’s time to move on. This has been an emotionally hard time for me."