Michigan resident Paul Ferguson was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years and maximum of 100 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to tormenting and starving his autistic younger brother. As the court was announcing the verdict, he retched in shock as the judge Matthew Kacel read out the sentence Monday.
His mother vomited in court during her own trial. Ferguson was convicted on first-degree child abuse related to the death of his 15-year-old younger brother Timothy, who was also tortured by his own mother, Shanda Vander Ark, 44.
Timothy died in July 2022.
Timothy died weighing just 32 kilos when he died and was subjected to merciless punishments including force feeding him hot sauce, depriving him of sleep and locking away food.
Text messages probed by investigators also showed that they discussed pouring hot sauce on the genitals of young Timothy.
The mother, Shanda Vander Ark, was sentenced in January to life in prison without a chance of parole. The jury convicted her of murder and child abuse in her son’s death.
When she was shown the images of her son’s emaciation as he starved to death, she vomited in court in full view of the jury.
Timothy was speech and motor impaired. He was also autistic. His mother and Paul tormented him with callous punishments that also included subjecting him to lengthy ice baths. During the mother’s trial it was revealed that she forced him to eat bread covered in hot sauce and would lock the fridge to prevent him being able to eat. She also installed the house and the tiny closet Timothy was sleeping in with motion sensors, alarms and live feed cameras.
“I wonder how it would feel to have that hot sauce on your private parts. I’m not saying touch him there, not at all, but dripping a little bit there, is that horrible,” she asked.
The elder brother Paul allegedly put Timothy in an ice bath for nearly nine hours. He testified against his own mother at her trial. “(I am suffering) something close to Stockholm Syndrome. I desire to find a role model that, due to my own low self-esteem, I would do anything to make them proud of me,” he said.
Muskegon County Circuit Judge Matthew Kacel, however, believed that Paul was not repentant at all.
(with inputs from Grand Rapids Press)
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