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Both before and after the death of 4-year-old Ethan Stacy in May 2010, his new stepfather, Nathan Sloop, spoke to a therapist about the boy's behavior and physical state, according to a motion filed in 2nd District Court by Davis County prosecutors.

Prosecutors are seeking records of those conversations as evidence in their murder case against the defendant.

But defense attorneys claim the records are protected by patient-therapist privilege.

The records will be the subject of an April 21 hearing before 2nd District Judge Glen Dawson.

Portions of the hearing — where Dawson will view the records and decide if they are admissible at a preliminary hearing and trial — will be closed to the public.

Prosecutors claim that some of Sloop's conversations with the unnamed therapist "were not for the purpose of diagnosing or treating the defendant." That means the therapists' recordings or written notes regarding those conversations may not be protected by patient-therapist privilege.

Attorneys for Stephanie Sloop, the dead boy's mother and Nathan Sloop's wife and co-defendant, are claiming a similar privilege regarding her communications with Ogden psychologist Rob Pramann.

It is unclear if Pramann was also Nathan Sloop's therapist.

Pramann's attorney, Earl Jay Peck, declined to comment except to say Pramann had been subpoenaed to appear at the hearing Thursday.

If the judge decides Nathan Sloop's communications regarding Ethan are privileged, prosecutors want the judge to then consider if the sessions should have triggered a child-abuse report by the therapist, and whether that constitutes an exception to the privilege.

Nathan Sloop, 32, and Stephanie Sloop, 28, are both charged with aggravated murder, which carries the potential for the death penalty.

Charging documents say the couple engaged in multiple acts of "severe abuse" between April 29 and May 8, 2010, which led to Ethan's death, including "beatings, burning, drugging, isolating, malnourishing, leaving the child alone and unattended while suffering, and refusing to seek vital life-sustaining medical attention."

According to the police probable-cause statements, Stephanie Sloop said she knew Ethan needed medical attention after an initial May 5 disciplinary beating by Nathan Sloop, but that she was afraid Sloop would harm her, too, if she acted.

She told police that Ethan became "extremely ill," would not eat and was given Bena-dryl to keep him quiet. She also told police that on May 7, Nathan Sloop told her Ethan had burned himself in the bathtub on his feet, legs and buttocks by turning up the hot water when Nathan Sloop left the bathroom.

The couple — who said they left the injured boy in a locked bedroom while they got married May 6 — reported Ethan missing to police on Mother's Day, May 10, after discovering the boy was dead.

But after a 12-hour search, police say the couple confessed to burying the boy near Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Weber County.

Nathan Sloop, who led officers to the body on May 11, told police he used a hammer to disfigure the boy's face and teeth in an effort to hinder identification.

The motion filed Thursday by prosecutors reveals one new detail about the case: Dog food was sprinkled on the boy's unmarked grave.