BANGOR, Maine — A New Hampshire man who admitted putting a toddler in a dryer and turning it on was sentenced Thursday at the Penobscot Judicial Center to eight years in prison with all but three years suspended.
Adam Morton, 28, of Berlin, New Hampshire, began serving his sentence immediately.
He also was sentenced to three years of probation. Conditions include not living with children under the age of 10 without permission from his probation officer.
In January, Morton pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault and was to have been sentenced earlier this year. His plea agreement with the Penobscot County district attorney’s office called for him to serve just two years, but Superior Court Justice William Anderson said in May that was not enough time considering the severity of the crime and rejected the deal.
Under Maine law, when a judge rejects a plea agreement, a defendant may withdraw a guilty plea and go to trial. Morton opted not to do that but to serve more time, his attorney, Aaron Frey of Bangor, told Anderson on Thursday.
Morton did not address the judge.
The victim’s family did not attend Thursday’s hearing. Michael Roberts, deputy district attorney for Penobscot County, said after the hearing that they have moved to southern Maine. The prosecutor said the child has recovered from his injuries.
Michael Sousa, the boy’s father, said outside the courthouse in May that Morton should have been charged with attempted murder, a more serious crime. He also said that two years was not enough time behind bars.
Sousa, who then lived in Bangor, said his son showed no residual effects from the incident.
“He is happy, he’s talking, he’s running around,” Sousa previously said of the boy, now 3. “He is back on the fast track, and he is climbing, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve justice.”
At the time the boy was injured, Sousa and his wife were separated, Roberts said Thursday. They have since reconciled.
By pleading guilty, Morton admitted that on Aug. 2, 2014, he put the boy in the dryer at his then-girlfriend’s Bangor home and turned it on. Morton told Bangor police Detective Tim Shaw that the dryer made just one revolution before Morton removed the boy from the dryer.
The boy suffered second-degree burns to his back and arms with a distinct pattern that matched the drum of the dryer, had blisters on his feet, bruises all over his body and cuts that matched bolts on the inside of the appliance, according to court documents.
Police seized the dryer and through testing determined it could reach temperatures of up to 180 degrees in just three minutes.
Morton faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000. He was arrested Aug. 28, 2014, in New Hampshire. He was released from the Penobscot County Jail on Sept. 19, 2014, and had been free on $2,500 cash bail until Thursday.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence and would like to talk with an advocate, call 866-834-4357, TRS 800-787-3224. This free, confidential service is available 24/7 and is accessible from anywhere in Maine.
BDN writer Nok-Noi Ricker contributed to this report.