Inset: Ian Tatro (7th Circuit Solicitor's Office). Background: Spartanburg County Courthouse (WYFF).
A 28-year-old man in South Carolina will spend decades behind bars after admitting to severely physically and emotionally abusing his 8-year-old daughter, who was regularly beaten, "force-fed" feces and laxatives, starved, and constantly tormented in other various ways.
State Circuit Judge R. Keith Kelly on Monday ordered Ian Tatro to serve 50 years in a state correctional facility for the torturous treatment of his daughter, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Kelly handed down the sentence after Tatro pleaded guilty to 20 counts of unlawful neglect of a child as well as one count of obstruction of justice.
The victim's stepmother, Tenika Draper, was sentenced last month to 35 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to the same spate of charges as Tatro.
Inset: Tenika Draper (Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office). Background: Spartanburg County Courthouse (WYFF).
The cases against the couple's co-defendants, Trina Draper and Ryan Dezotelle, are still pending. Authorities identified Trina Draper as the victim's step-grandmother and Dezotelle as the victim's step-uncle.
"The amount of abuse this child suffered at the hands of adults who should have loved and cared for her is staggering," 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry J. Barnette said in a statement. "The abuse was not just physical abuse but repeated psychological abuse."
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In one instance, prosecutors said, Tatro even gave his daughter animal feces as a Christmas gift, Greenville NBC affiliate WYFF reported.
As Law&Crime previously reported, authorities on Sept. 2, 2022, responded to a call from the Department of Social Services requesting assistance with a child abuse investigation, the sheriff's office said in an email to Law&Crime. The child welfare agency was alerted to the possibility of child abuse by an anonymous source.
"Upon arrival, deputies were informed by the DSS caseworker that she had been out to the home several previous times to investigate, but the adults at the home had hidden the victim from her," the sheriff's office said.
Upon arriving at the home, deputies found four adults and four children. Deputies said the oldest child had "a noticeable limp and temporary tattoos covering multiple visible bruises on both legs."
The family members allegedly explained to deputies, in separate interviews, that they had recently moved down south from Vermont, Columbia NBC and CW affiliate WIS reported
The stepmother allegedly admitted to putting makeup on the child's legs in an effort to cover the bruises once child welfare agents started visiting the residence.
The children were then taken into emergency protective custody by the DSS, the sheriff's office said, while the oldest boy was transported to a hospital "due to the extent of the bruising and blood loss concerns."
Left to right: Trina Draper and Ryan Dezotelle (7th Circuit Solicitor's Office).
"The victim was interviewed at the hospital by medical personnel and one of our SVU investigators, where more detailed information was discovered," the sheriff's office said. "After that initial medical exam, the victim was evaluated again by a forensic doctor later last month, who stated the victim clearly met the criteria for a medical diagnosis of child torture. In forensic interviews at the Children's Advocacy Center, the victim gave detailed and credible disclosures of multiple instances of abuse by various means from all four adults in the home."
During court proceedings immediately following the arrests, prosecutors said that when the victim was rescued from the home, she said, "This is the best day of my life."
Prosecutors also said that Tatro forced the victim to consume animal feces and other disturbing things.
"He [Tatro] would give her gummy laxatives and she thought it was candy because that's what he told her," Asst. Solicitor Tony Leibert reportedly said during previous proceedings. "She would defecate on herself and she would have to clean it up, and [he would] make her wear pullups at 8 years old. He said that he wished her mother had vacuumed her out before she was born and wish he could kill her and get away with it."
Once, when the child threw up, Tatro reportedly forced her to eat the vomit, prosecutors said.
More direct physical abuse is also alleged to have occurred — including being sat on; being beaten with boards, cords, and frying pans; being forced to stand in a garbage can; being placed in "hypothermia baths;" being forced to stay in the closet for long periods of time and sleep there; and being forced to kneel inside wooden crates.
The girl was not allowed to use the bathroom, prosecutors said, adding that she was forced to clean up her own waste and at least once had her face rubbed in the carpet when she failed to sufficiently cleanse the area.