A Boulevard man and his girlfriend, who physically abused the man’s 7-year-old niece through burnings, beatings and starvation, were each sentenced Friday to 25 years in state prison.
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Devin Hughes, 39, and Kayla Reynolds, 32, were arrested after the girl fled the couple’s mobile home and ran to a neighbor, who notified police after the girl asked to live with him because she said she was being beaten and abused.
The District Attorney’s Office said the girl, who appeared malnourished and covered in injuries such as burn marks, a black eye and bruises, suffered “horrible abuse” that included being burned with vape pens, starved, forced to drink dirty toilet water and made to sleep on the floor while chained to a treadmill.
“In addition, she was forced to hold her urine to the point of wetting herself and then would be forced to clean it up using her tongue,” prosecutors alleged.
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Prosecutors say there were three other children also living at the Boulevard home with Hughes, the girl’s biological uncle, and Reynolds, his girlfriend.
Hughes and Reynolds pleaded guilty to 15 felony counts that include torture, child abuse, corporal injury, mayhem and assault likely to cause great bodily injury.
The District Attorney’s Office said the girl is now living with another family member and is “thriving in her new environment.”
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