Before handing out a six-year prison sentence Tuesday to a Cottonwood area man convicted of child abuse, a Shasta County Superior Court judge listed off a horrific litany of injuries the 7-year-old boy suffered while the boy's "uncle" lived at his home.
Judge Cara Beatty described how when sheriff's deputies found the malnourished and dying boy in December 2009 at his Rhonda Road home, he'd swallowed a broken tooth, and one of the boy's ears was badly deformed from being constantly twisted. His ribs were broken, and doctors found evidence they'd also been broken before but healed, Beatty said.
The boy's genitals also were scarred, Beatty said. Investigators said when Shasta County sheriff's deputies found him, the injured boy had 10 broken ribs, a lacerated spleen and liver, burns on his chest, two broken vertebra and a collapsed lung. They say he would have died within a day had he not been treated by a doctor.
"It was like there was no part of his body where there was no injury," Beatty said. " I don't believe Mr. Limon is an evil man but what he did by not helping this child is evil."
Gregory Limon was convicted in November of child abuse and being an accessory to abuse, both felonies. He also was convicted of a misdemeanor count of trying to prevent deputies from entering the mobile home near Cottonwood where they found the boy in a back bedroom.
Beatty sentenced Limon, 24, to a six-year term, plus a three-year sentence that will be served concurrently. A probation department sentencing memorandum had suggested Beatty impose a four-year sentence.
Limon also will have to pay nearly $12,000 in restitution to cover the costs of the boy's medical care and his ongoing therapy.
Limon's public defender, Cedar Vaughan, said after the hearing she planned to appeal. She'd asked for probation, saying aside from a previous drunken-driving conviction, Limon didn't have a criminal record and there was no danger to the boy if Gregory Limon was released. She also said the abuse case revolved primarily around Limon's sister, Rachel Limon, the boy's legal guardian.
Investigators say Rachel Limon has admitted to having caused some of the boy's injuries as a way to get revenge against the boy's biological mother.
Rachel Limon has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Her trial is scheduled to begin next week.
If convicted, she faces life in prison.
During the sentencing hearing, Vaughan called Gregory Limon's mother, his girlfriend, his girlfriend's sister and his former boss as witnesses. All testified he was a good man and a hard worker who loved his children.
"He'd help out anybody," said Gregory Limon's mother, Donda Corona, while her voice cracked with emotion. "That's how he's always been."
Throughout their testimony, Gregory Limon dabbed his eyes and nose with clumps of tissue paper. When he was sentenced, he looked down at his shackled hands with tears in his eyes.
Beatty said what Limon's supporters described was the opposite of what she heard at trial. She said it was appalling Limon and his sister had completely covered the boy with clothing when deputies arrived at the home to hide his injuries. Beatty said Limon also tried to keep the deputies out of the home so they couldn't see how badly his sister had hurt the boy.
Beatty said the boy trusted and loved Gregory Limon who was so involved in the boy's life he referred to him as his uncle.
Beatty said the boy tried to tell detectives he'd hurt himself to protect those who hurt him, a classic sign he'd been coached by his abusers to cover up their abuse.
She said she also doubted Gregory Limon had limited knowledge of the abuse.
She said prior to deputies arriving at the home, Gregory Limon also had given the boy a nutritional supplement drink and some medication to try to treat his injuries, rather than actually reporting the abuse or trying to get him medical help.
Throughout his trial, Gregory Limon maintained he didn't really live at the home, but had only come to help the child at his sister's request.
Beatty said that's not what a simple search of court records found. She said that for months while the abuse was taking place, Gregory Limon had listed the Rhonda Road house as his home address in court documents related to his DUI case.
She said she also was struck by the lack of emotion Gregory Limon showed at his trial, even as witnesses were describing the horrors the boy suffered.
"The only time I observed him cry was when he was remanded into custody," Beatty said.
Originally Posted by crickett
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