Couple Sentenced In Child Abuse Case After Starving Daughter
DENVER (CBS4) - A woman who pleaded guilty to child abuse charges in the malnourishment and mistreatment of her daughter was sentenced to prison on Friday, along with her husband, the girl's father.
Kathleen Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury in June. She was sentenced to 16 years behind bars.
Her husband, Kenny Sanchez, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
The couple starved their 3-year-old daughter who only weighed 19 pounds at the time they were arrested in February 2012.
A stranger saw the girl in a Disabled American Veterans thrift store and contacted police. The Good Samaritan, Laura Argomaniz, attended the sentencing trial to learn the fate of the parents.
RELATED: Report Abuse With Colorado Child Abuse Hotline
"I saw the bruises all over that little girl and I couldn't believe that she was three years old. She had to have been just a little over a year from what I saw and the bruises on her face was what got me," said Argomaniz. "The look of despair on that little girl's face following her mom and her dad... that's what made me mad."
The Denver DA's office said the couple "failed to appear at their scheduled trial in July of last year and remained at-large until they were arrested in Foley, Alabama in December 2014."
