A man accused of torturing, starving and confining his 13-year-old stepson pleaded guilty Wednesday to assault causing serious bodily injury.
Truman Sitting Eagle, 36, now faces no fewer than 10 years in federal prison and a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
His sentencing is set for July 9 before Judge Alan B. Johnson in Cheyenne at the federal US. District Court for Wyoming.
Sitting Eagle entered a plea agreement April 4, the details of which the federal prosecutor’s office has not made public.
Sitting Eagle’s wife Kandace, who faces multiple felonies stemming from her son’s physical injuries and alleged weekslong confinement, has not given a guilty plea or been convicted. Her prosecution is ongoing.
Broken Back, Also
The boy was missing from school for several days leading up to Dec. 12.
School Resource Officer Matt Lee had gone to the boy’s home multiple times looking for him, always to be turned away by the Sitting Eagles, according to court documents.
But on Dec. 12, Lee demanded to see the boy and refused to leave.
Truman Sitting Eagle retrieved the boy from a crawl space under the home, where he’d reportedly commanded the boy to hide when Lee approached.
The boy was thinner than the last time Lee had seen him. He was famished and bruised, says an evidentiary affidavit in the case.
Dr. Kristine Campbell evaluated the boy at the Primary Children’s Hospital. She said that in addition to the bruising and cuts, the boy’s right nasal bone was fractured and his spine contained healing lumbar fractures, the affidavit relates. He had another serious reported injury which Cowboy State Daily has chosen not to disclose.
Authorities forensically interviewed the boy’s five half-siblings who are all younger than 9.
A little girl confirmed that the boy had a lock on his door, says the affidavit.
Another little girl said she doesn’t like how her brother gets hurt.
“Sometimes her parents hurt (the boy) and he can’t walk,” Jensen related, adding that the boy “screams when Truman Sittingeagle hits his legs.”
Another child confirmed that the parents hurt his brother “by beating him up,” the affidavit says.
The boy reportedly told authorities that he was confined in his room because he’d been in trouble for stealing snacks. He said his mother would taunt him and ask if he wanted to be out with the other children, and that both parents would beat him.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
