A Colorado man whose seven-year-old son was repeatedly abused before being found encased in concrete in a Denver storage unit has been sentenced to 72 years in prison for the death.
Leland Pankey received the sentence on Friday, with one count of child abuse landing him 48 years in prison and 24 years for tampering with the body.
His son, Caden McWilliams, was killed in 2018.
The man’s wife, Elisha Pankey, is awaiting sentencing in April after pleading guilty to similar charges, according to the Denver Post.
She faces a shorter sentence of between 16 and 32 years, due to a deal in which she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
“Both of those adults tortured that child,” said Joe Morales, the Denver chief deputy district attorney.
Leland Pankey had originally been charged with the murder of the child, but those charges were dropped after officials failed to determine a cause of death.
According to an arrest affidavit, the mother said that she was aware of the child’s abuse, and that Caden had been kept in a dog kennel “for a few days” before his death.
