A Texas couple was sentenced to decades in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to using ratchet straps to confine a teenage girl and leaving her outside for days in the summer heat.
Johnny James, aged 41, and Kayla Clark, aged 42, confessed to child abuse and numerous counts of child neglect, which led to their respective prison sentences of 35 and 30 years. As per Oklahoma law, both individuals are required to serve at least 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole.
Officials received notification of the abuse in Vera last July during the visit, following a local’s call for assistance. Deputies discovered the 15-year-old girl sleeping on a piece of carpet outside a chicken coop, bound from her feet to her shoulders with various ratchet straps, according to court documents. The constraints significantly restricted her movement and resulted in open lesions on her flesh, according to Washington County District Attorney William Drake…