Madras couple sentenced to 13 months for daughter’s abuse

(Update: Neighbor reacts to news)

A Madras couple has been sentenced to more than a year in prison after police were sent a video they had shared with a family member that showed the mother’s physical and verbal abuse of their 2-year-old daughter, Jefferson County District Attorney Steven Leriche said Thursday.

Mariah Angeline Rodriguez, 26, pleaded guilty in court Wednesday and Antonio Javon Burke-Gates, 27, pleaded no contest to charges of first-degree criminal mistreatment and third-degree assault in the incident last summer, Leriche said.

Toni Nice, a neighbor living near the home where the abuse happened, told NewsChannel 21 Thursday she would see the couple with the little girl at times.

“They were pretty much to themselves,” Nice said. “They were very quiet. I don’t know what happened inside the house, because like I said, we never met them.”

She said the news of the abuse is heartbreaking.

“I feel bad for the kids — they can’t defend themselves. They too young, for one. It’s not right,” she said.

Police learned of the abuse after Burke-Gates sent a video to a relative, who shared it with another relative, who in turn notified law enforcement, the DA said.

The video, taken by Burke-Gates in July or August of last year, shows Rodriguez “viciously striking the child 27 times while the child screams, then forcing the child to walk around a kitchen island and mocking the child while the child cries for approximately eight minutes,” Leriche said in a news release.

“Burke-Gates is heard on the video telling Rodriguez she is being too heavy-handed with the child and complaining that they can’t take the child out in public because of the child’s injuries, but does nothing to intervene,” the prosecutor added.

Madras Police Detective Steve Webb, testifying for the state, called the incident “horrendous,” citing not just the mother’s abuse, but the fathers lack of action to protect the child, Leriche said.

Under Oregon’s criminal sentencing guidelines, the couple faced a standard sentence of three years supervised probation and up to 90 days jail time, Leriche said.

But Senior Deputy District Attorney Brentley Foster played the video in court and urged Jefferson County Circuit Judge Daniel Ahern to impose a maximum prison sentence of 18 months, citing the deliberate cruelty to the child, the severity of the conduct and the couple’s lack of remorse, according to Leriche.

Attorneys for the couple sought the standard guideline sentence, as Paul Sumner, representing Rodriguez, cited her pregnancy at the time, financial stresses and effects of medications as contributing factors to her behaviors, Leriche said. Burke-Gates’ lawyer, David Glenn, argued he was not the actual abuser in the video and memories of his own abuse as a child paralyzed his ability to intervene and protect his daughter.

Ahern sentenced the parents to 13 months in prison, with credit for time served, eligibility for time off for good behavior and participating in alternative incarceration programs.

The judge noted the sentence was less than the state had requested and said the couple definitely would not serve the full 13 months, due to the ability to receive good times and participate in programs, Leriche said. But Ahern said said the pair needed to experience the system and pay their debt to society.

Ahern said if a stranger had treated their child the way they did, the couple would be outraged if the sentence was only probation for their conduct. Leriche said. The judge also noted the prison sentence would not prevent the couple from regaining custody of their children, but would drive home the severity of their conduct.

Leriche thanked Washington County sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Strange for helping obtain and send the video to Madras police, and commended Madras police Officer Brent Schulke and Detective Steve Webb for their quick response and diligent investigation.