A Salt Lake County man who poked holes in the hands of his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter -- in what a defense attorney called an ill-advised attempt to provide medical care -- was sent to prison Monday for up to five years.

Derrick Lee Crispin, 30, and the girl's mother, Amy Ellene Roberts, 31, were trying to treat what they believed was a case of cellulitis, a skin disease that causes swelling.

"They were trying to get the pus out of her hands" by sucking it out with a syringe, defense attorney Earl Xaiz told 3rd District Judge Sheila McCleve.

While holding the girl's hands during the Jan. 6 operation, Roberts held the victim hard enough to break a half-dozen bones in each hand, Xaiz said.

The couple then put iodine on the girl's hands, which she rubbed into her eyes, causing temporary blindness.

When they took the girl to a hospital several days later, doctors feared the girl might permanently lose her eyesight.

"I should have known better than to play doctor," Crispin told the court Monday. "I'm sorry. I made some very bad decisions."

Said the judge: "It just sounds like torture. It just defies reason."

Xaiz contended Crispin was "in a fog" due to taking multiple prescriptions of the painkillers Oxycontin and Percocet, which had been prescribed by a doctor.

Xaiz also argued that Crispin should not be punished more harshly than the girl's mother, whom McCleve sentenced last month to probation and a year in jail.

"The culpability levels are equal," Xaiz asserted.

But McCleve said Crispin's actions were worthy of a prison term.

Crispin had pleaded guilty to one count each of child abuse and obstructing justice, third-degree felonies. Rogers had pleaded guilty to one count of class A misdemeanor child abuse.

Prosecutor Angela Micklos said the girl, who is now living with her father, has recovered except for some redness around her eyes and scarring on her hands.

Asked if she thought the actions of Roberts and Crispin amounted to torture, Micklos said, "In terms of the victim, it would be tortuous to her."

shunt@sltrib.com