Devin Hughes, 39, and Kayla Reynolds, 32, each received 25-year state prison sentences after pleading guilty to 15 felony counts stemming from the abuse of Hughes’s 7-year-old niece, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The charges included torture, mayhem, child abuse, corporal injury and assault likely to cause great bodily injury.
How the case came to light
The investigation began after the girl left the couple’s mobile home in Boulevard and went to a neighbor, according to the Union-Tribune. The neighbor contacted police after the girl reported that she had been beaten and abused. Investigators found the child malnourished and suffering from burn marks, a black eye and bruises, the newspaper reported.
Prosecutors described the abuse as an extended pattern that included starvation and burns inflicted with vape pens, the Union-Tribune reported. Three other children were living in the home at the time. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office described the abuse as horrible, according to the report.
The girl is now living with another family member and was described as thriving there, the Union-Tribune reported. The 25-year sentences followed Hughes and Reynolds’s guilty pleas.
Reporting concerns and finding support
Suspected child abuse or neglect can be reported 24 hours a day through the County of San Diego at 858-560-2191; callers within California can also use 800-344-6000. For relatives caring for children, 211 San Diego says its Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Workgroup connects kinship caregivers with workshops, parent education, respite care and support groups.
