A married Red Wing couple who were charged with 16 crimes related to the alleged extensive abuse of their four children under 10 years old have now been sentenced.
According to Goodhue County District Court, 42-year old Benjamin Cotton and his wife, 39-year old Christina Cotton, were sentenced Friday to up to four years behind bars, with credit for four days already served.
As part of a plea deal, Christina Cotton eventually pleaded guilty to one count of child torture and Benjamin Cotton entered a guilty plea to one count of child torture-liability for the crimes of another.
All other criminal counts were dismissed.
The two were charged in June 2023 with two counts of child torture, seven counts of neglect or endangerment of a child, and seven counts of malicious punishment of a child.
According to criminal complaints, the couple routinely held their young children in locked cages for 13 to 14 hours a day, beat them with a belt and withheld food and access to a bathroom.
Goodhue County Health and Human Services began investigating the couple in August of 2022 after a caller reported that they were keeping a 5-year-old locked up in a wooden "cage" and subjecting the child and three other children in the home, ages 9, 7 and 2 to neglect and unreasonable punishment.
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