Couple who starved, abused daughter nearly to death will not serve jail time

An Idaho couple who have been convicted of severely injuring their adoptive daughter will not serve any jail time after the judge determined that they had already suffered "substantial penalties" for their crime.

Last June, Byron and Gwendalyn Buthman of Kuna, Idaho, 20 miles southwest of Boise, were convicted of felony and misdemeanor injury to a child with an enhancement for inflicting great bodily injury.

Testimony and evidence introduced at trial indicate that their abuse of the victim, identified only as E.B., was frequent and heinous. From the time E.B. was three until she was six, the Buthmans repeatedly isolated her from her four siblings, fed her only vegetable powder, and forced her to sleep in a laundry room, often without a mattress.

In October 2017, when the girl was just five, Dawn Cliff, a habilitative interventionist who had begun working with E.B. the month before, discovered E.B. lying outside wearing nothing but a soiled diaper. When Cliff called the girl's name, she didn't respond. She had no pulse, and her pupils were dilated.

The girl had gone into cardiac arrest and was taken to the hospital. Medical teams performed CPR for 45 minutes and had to administer seven doses of epinephrine and three doses of atropine to revive her. Her body temperature was just 89 degrees.

"I certainly do not think that it is in any way an exaggeration to suggest that this was nearly a homicide," said Ada County Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Dinger, "that (E.B.) could have died as a result of the defendants' conduct."

Despite the harrowing ordeal, the girl survived. She testified at her former adoptive parents' trial and explained that on at least one occasion, her extreme hunger forced her to eat toilet paper after her parents had locked her in a bathroom.

E.B. also gave a statement at the sentencing hearing, calling for her former parents to go to prison. "I would like Gwen and Byron to go to jail because I don’t want what they did to me to happen to anybody else, especially my siblings," she said.

Prosecutors had recommended that the Buthmans, who spent just one night in jail each during the entire legal process, serve at least five years in prison followed by probation, but Judge Darla Williamson ignored those recommendations and sentenced the defendants to four years of probation and 300 hours of community service. Several outlets reported that attendees in the gallery gasped audibly when they heard the sentence.

Williamson stated that the only reason to incarcerate the Buthmans would be to show the community that "people who do this sort of this thing go to prison." The judge also expressed concern that the Buthmans had already suffered "substantial penalties" outside the legal system.

Defense attorney Matthew Williams shared those concerns, claiming that Byron Buthman had already lost his job as a neonatal ICU nurse and that his wife would likely not be able to renew her teaching certification. The Buthmans have also been prohibited from contacting E.B. for the next 30 years, a punishment that Williams likened to death.

"No, (E.B.) didn’t die, but when your child is taken away from you by the state and given to somebody else, it’s almost like she does," Williams claimed. "She’s still alive, but she’s dead to you now."

Judge Williamson further claimed that the Buthmans "appear to be" caring for their four other adoptive children and noted that they have been barred from fostering others. Going to prison "would be devastating" for them, she said, and stated that she believed they will "stay out of trouble" in the future.

During her statement, Gwendalyn Buthman sobbed as she explained that she was unable to have children, which is why she and her husband had elected to adopt. "My children are my pride and joy," Mrs. Buthman claimed. "I love them very much."

E.B., now 11, has since been placed in the care of a new adoptive mother, identified only as Kristin. It is unclear whether E.B. maintains contact with her siblings living with the Buthmans.

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