"Colorado man pleads guilty to keeping sons in filthy home" Associated Press November 14, 2014
DENVER — A father whose four young sons could communicate only in grunts when authorities rescued them from a filthy Denver apartment could spend up to seven years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday to felony child abuse.
Prosecutors agreed to drop all other charges against Wayne Sperling, 67, in exchange for his guilty plea. He will be sentenced on Dec. 30.
The boys were age 2 to 6 when they were removed from their home last October. An emergency room doctor suspected abuse when the youngest was taken to the hospital for a cut on his forehead. The doctor noticed the boy was unwashed, reeked of cigarette smoke, and had bruises consistent with pinching.
Authorities then discovered Sperling, his wife, and the boys living in an apartment filled with cat feces and flies.
Prosecutors called it one of the most horrific cases they had ever seen, but the state’s child abuse laws kept them from pursuing harsher penalties because the children did not suffer serious physical injuries.
--more--"
