Livingston Woman Gets 10-15 Years for Abusing Toddler

A Livingston County Circuit Court judge has sentenced Sara Rae Walters to 10-15 years in prison for abusing her 3-year-old step-grandson, according to an article by WHMI 93.5 FM.

Walters, of Oceola Township, reached a plea deal in February by pleading no contest on the charge of 1st Degree Child Abuse in exchange for prosecutors dropping the charge of torture. A no contest plea happens when the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge. A no-contest plea, while not technically a guilty plea, has the same immediate effect as a guilty plea.

The charges against Walters, 36, came after a three-month long investigation by police after the boy was admitted to the University of Michigan Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on Oct. 21. Police said the boy suffered more than 60 injuries, including a core body temperature of 88 degrees and numerous other superficial lacerations and contusions.

According to an article in The Livingston Daily, Walters was given the maximum prison sentence possible. The state's minimum penalty for the crime is three to five years in prison.