(Sioux Falls, S.D.)– A Sioux Falls, South Dakota man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of abuse or cruelty to a minor.
24-year-old Thomas Ohrtman was charged in connection with the beating of his girlfriend’s son in March at a residence in Sioux Falls. Two counts of aggravated assault were dropped as part of a plea deal.
The boy’s grandmother, who’s from Spirit Lake, read a statement in Minnehaha County District Court Tuesday saying the four-year-old boy cannot walk, talk, sit up or rollover and eats through a tube.
Ohrtman received the maximum sentence for the crime. In the event he should be released on parole, he will not be allowed to have contact with anyone under the age of 18.
Ohrtman must also immediately notify the South Dakota Department of Social Services should he father any children.
