FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
| Date: | March 28, 2023 |
| Contact: | Emily Lowe Public Information Officer 208-287-7700 |
| RE: | State v. Gwen & Byron Buthman – Sentencing |
BOISE – On Tuesday, Gwen and Byron Buthman were sentenced for the neglect and abuse of their adopted daughter.
The Honorable Senior Judge Darla Williamson sentenced the Buthmans’ to a withheld judgment with four years of probation. Each defendant was given credit for one day of jail previously served, with no additional jail time. They were also ordered to complete three hundred hours of community service. The state requested a 20-year prison sentence with five years fixed, due to the seriousness of the offenses. A no contact order with the victim was issued for 30 years.
The Buthmans’ were indicted in March 2019, and convicted by a jury in June 2022 for felony injury to a child with an enhancement for producing great bodily harm, and a misdemeanor count of injury to a child.
The Buthmans’ punished and mistreated the victim from ages three to six. The defendants gave her cold baths, only let her consume a vegetable powder substance as her source of food, isolated her from her siblings, and made her sleep in a laundry room without bedding. During trial, the victim testified that on one occasion she was so hungry that she ate toilet paper after being locked in a bathroom by the defendants. Due to the victim’s extreme malnourishment, and an event where the victim was forced to stand outside in the winter cold with only a diaper on, the victim went into cardiac arrest in October of 2017, at the age of five. Fortunately, the child survived, though the abuse continued even after the cardiac arrest event.
“We appreciate those who intervened on the child’s behalf, as they prevented a possible child homicide,” said Ada County Prosecutor Jan Bennetts. “I appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in this case, including my trial team, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, and St. Luke’s CARES.”
As Child Abuse Prevention Month approaches, we want to remind the community that Idaho is a mandatory report state, meaning if you suspect abuse or neglect of a child has occurred, or is occurring, you are required within 24 hours to report it to your local law enforcement agency or to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Learn more at the following link: Crime Prevention.