Father sentenced for torturing, killing 4-year-old son

LAPORTE, Ind. — An Indiana man who was seen on video violently abusing his 4-year-old son was sentenced to 70 years in prison for the child’s death.

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Alan Morgan, 29, pleaded guilty to murder and felony battery and was sentenced by an Indiana judge Tuesday to spend 70 years in prison. He will not be eligible for parole until he is in his 80s, WTHR reported. As part of the plea agreement, charges of neglect of a dependent and animal cruelty were dropped.

Prosecutors in the case said that video footage from inside the family’s LaPorte County home showed Morgan repeatedly abusing 4-year-old Judah Morgan in the days before the child was found dead in October 2021, The Associated Press reported. Footage allegedly showed Morgan repeatedly punching his son, holding the child by his neck and dropping him on the floor, and leaving him for hours alone in a cold, dark basement without furniture, prosecutors told the AP.

Court documents obtained by WNDU allege that Judah was sent to the basement for not being potty-trained, where he would then be neglected and abused for days.

A forensic pathologist who testified at Tuesday’s sentencing hearing said that Judah’s autopsy revealed the 4-year-old weighed only 36 pounds, the AP reported. X-rays revealed a partially healed fracture, as well as bleeding on the brain and trauma to his back and abdomen.

During the hearing, the pathologist testified that Judah’s case was one of the worst cases of blunt force trauma to a child he had seen in his nearly 30-year career, WNDU reported.

Morgan did not offer a statement during the sentencing, the AP reported.

Judah’s mother, Mary Yoder, faces charges of neglecting a dependent and is scheduled to go on trial in 2023, WNDU reported.