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OGDEN (AP) -- A Roy couple accused of forcing their adoptive son to sleep in his underwear in a shed during sub-zero temperatures have been sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Three different child advocates told a judge yesterday that the case against Scott and Catherine Kanani Nelson was the worst case of child abuse they had ever seen.
The Nelsons pleaded guilty to third-degree felony child abuse in an agreement that dropped the charges from second-degree.
Authorities had said the boy was forced to live in his underwear on a concrete stairway landing or in a shed with no heat or bedding.
Defense attorneys asked for jail time, but Judge W- Brent West says prison was appropriate.
West says given Scott Nelson's law enforcement background as a former corrections officer, the abuse was especially alarming.
Officials say a plea bargain was necessary to keep the boy from having to testify.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
