Utah mother gets up to 45 years for locking son in bathroom

A 36-year-old southern Utah mother whose malnourished son was found in a feces-strewn bathroom where authorities believe he had been locked away for about a year has been sentenced to up to 45 years in state prison.

The Spectrum reports the woman was ordered Monday to serve consecutive one-to-15-year terms for her guilty pleas in July to three felony charges of intentional child abuse.

The Associated Press is not naming the woman or the child’s father to avoid identifying the boy.

The boy weighed 30 pounds when he was found in January with one blanket and a few empty cans of beans in the filthy bathroom with camera surveillance in the city of Toquerville.

Fifth District Court Judge Eric Ludlow called the case unbelievable and the mother’s actions deplorable.