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Utah father sentenced to jail after his wife locked their malnourished son in a bathroom for a year

Russell Jaynes (Courtesy Washington County Sheriff's Office)

A Washington County man will spend a year in jail for his role in keeping his severely malnourished 12-year-old son in a bathroom for up to a year.

Russell Jaynes, 41, of Toquerville, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to third-degree felony child abuse. He admitted in court papers that while it was his wife, Brandy Jaynes, who locked his son in the bathroom and did not give the child proper nourishment, he “recklessly permitted” the conduct.

After entering his plea, a 5th District Court judge on Wednesday sentenced him to spend a year in jail, according to the St. George News. Russell Jaynes was also ordered to 36 months probation.

The boy’s mother, Brandy Jaynes was sentenced last August to spent up to 45 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree felony child abuse.

| Courtesy of Washington County jail Brandy K. Jaynes

Last January, Russell Jaynes took the 12-year-old boy — who weighed 30 pounds — to a local hospital for treatment after he found the child was locked in a bathroom. Later, police said the bathroom was covered in feces and had empty cans of beans and a spoon in the shower.

The boy’s two siblings told investigators that their brother had been in the bathroom for at least one year, though Brandy Jaynes’ defense attorney has said he doesn’t believe the child was there for that long.