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CHILD ABUSE Gold Hill couple guilty of abusing 11-year-old boy By Vickie Aldous and Kaylee Tornay Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous and Kaylee Tornay Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 27, 2015 @ 11:02 am Updated Aug 27, 2015 at 5:34 PM By Vickie Aldous and Kaylee Tornay Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 27, 2015 @ 11:02 am Updated Aug 27, 2015 at 5:34 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Gold Hill couple on trial for child abuse » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> A Gold Hill couple on trial for the abuse of an 11-year-old boy were found guilty today of assault and criminal mistreatment. Angela Marie Millard, 35, remained silent while Jackson County Circuit Judge David Hoppe found her guilty on three counts of second-degree assault for abuse that included holding her stepson's hands under scalding water and hitting him with a hairbrush so hard she broke his teeth.  Lawrence James Millard, 38, was found guilty of second-degree assault for beating his son with a wooden table leg. As the verdict against him was read in court, he was silent and kept his head bowed. Later, he started crying. Their sentencing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday. Prosecutors said Angela Millard hit the boy in the face multiple times with a hairbrush, knocking out three of his teeth and leaving a scar near his eye. They said she also held his hands under scalding hot water around Thanksgiving in 2014, causing second- and third-degree burns. Neither Angela nor Lawrence Millard sought medical treatment for the boy's burns, which became infected and caused permanent scarring and restriction of his hand movements, prosecutors said. Fearing the abuse would be discovered, the couple didn’t let the boy return to his elementary school after the Thanksgiving holiday break, prosecutors said. He didn’t receive medical care until late January, when a relative took him to see a nurse practitioner in Washington state. Seeing the swollen, reddish-purple burns — which still appeared fresh two months after the scalding — and observing signs of other injuries, the nurse practitioner called 911, according to testimony during the trial, which began on Tuesday and wrapped up late Wednesday. Angela and Lawrence Millard did not testify during the trial. Angela Millard remained impassive during much of the trial, although she occasionally dabbed tears. Lawrence Millard, who appeared gaunt with dark circles around his eyes, spent much of the trial with his head in his hands. On Wednesday afternoon, the boy took the witness stand and responded to questions from prosecutors, defense attorneys and the judge. Holding a stuffed animal puppy, he smiled on the witness stand and complimented a defense attorney on his tie. He said he had turned 12 in July. But his grin disappeared and he grew so quiet while answering questions about the abuse that a court microphone had to be lowered closer to his mouth. He said his stepmother burned his hands with hot water because he argued with her and said he didn’t want to be tied up. He said she also hit him in the teeth and head with a hairbrush and, along with his father, tied him up with a blue rope. The blue rope and one of the boy’s broken teeth were found during a search of the apartment by detectives executing a search warrant. A dentist later reattached the tooth to a root still in the boy’s mouth. The boy said both his parents tied him up. He said his father beat him with sticks, what appeared to be a table leg, textbooks and a belt. He said one beating with a table leg or pole occurred after he was able to partially get out of the rope to sneak food and play games on his dad’s computer. Don Larson, Angela Millard’s court-appointed defense attorney, argued she should not have faced a second-degree assault charge over the hairbrush incident because a hairbrush is not a “dangerous weapon,” as it was labeled in an indictment. He also said one charge in the indictment said the boy had been hit in the eye with the hairbrush, but a scar shows he was hit on the face near his eye. Michael Kellington, Lawrence Millard’s court-appointed defense attorney, said the boy sometimes called the wooden table leg a pole and sometimes said it was a stick when talking to different investigators. An indictment listed the weapon used by Lawrence Millard against the boy specifically as a wooden table leg. A table leg was never found during the apartment search, Kellington said. Injuries the boy reportedly sustained to his leg from that beating could have occurred on a playground, Kellington suggested. Nevertheless, Hoppe said Thursday morning that he "found the victim's testimony entirely credible" in describing the manner in which he received his injuries. The child and his two younger siblings were placed in the care of a therapeutic foster care mother, who testified that the boy experiences continuing effects from the trauma he endured. At the beginning of his stay, she said, she couldn't even raise her voice to call him for dinner. “He would clutch his face and go into a fetal position,” she said. “He’s got terrible scars, but he’s doing better — inside and out." Prosecutor Virginia Greer called the boy "exceptionally brave" for testifying in court.  "He experienced horrific abuse, and he has been very brave through all the court proceedings," she said. Hoppe postponed sentencing until Tuesday so the prosecution can prepare more witnesses. Reach Vickie Aldous at [email protected]; reach reporting intern Kaylee Tornay at [email protected] . By Vickie Aldous and Kaylee Tornay Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Vickie Aldous and Kaylee Tornay Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 27, 2015 @ 11:02 am Updated Aug 27, 2015 at 5:34 PM » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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