Man who let rats eat baby’s fingers to bone in house of horrors gets 16 years

A man from Indiana, who was found guilty of child neglect following a rat attack that left his six-month-old son with disfiguring injuries, has been handed the maximum prison sentence of 16 years.

David Schonabaum, 32, was sentenced on Wednesday after being convicted by a jury in September on three felony counts of neglect of a dependent.

The judge, Robert Pigman of Vanderburgh County Superior Court, found no mitigating factors to reduce the sentence, as reported by the Evansville Courier and Press. Prosecutor Diana Moers had previously stated that her office would not hesitate to pursue the “highest possible sentence.”

Schonabaum and his wife, Angel, were arrested in September 2023 after he called 911 to report that their infant son had been severely injured by rats in their home, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Story continues

TRENDING NOW

LATEST LOCAL NEWS