FAIRBANKS - A father convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his 4-year-old son was sentenced to 90 years in prison in Alaska.
The state medical examiner concluded the boy died May 5, 2015, from blunt force injuries and burns.
A Fairbanks jury deliberated for just three hours in December before convicting Christopher Sadowski, 31, of North Pole of killing Christopher Sadowski Jr.
The father will be eligible for discretionary parole after serving 22 1/2 years and for mandatory parole in his late 80s, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
He was sentenced Monday.
Sadowski testified his son was active but clumsy and often injured himself. He said an accidental scalding in the shower caused the burns.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Crail told jurors the evidence indicated Sadowski poured scalding water on his son to cover bruises the father had caused.
Crail at sentencing asked Superior Court Judge Douglas Blankenship to sentence Sadowski to the highest statutory sentence of 99 years in prison. In her sentencing memo, she noted the severity of the boy's injuries and his extreme vulnerability.
Crail also noted Sadowski's brutal behavior toward the boy's older half brother while he was married to their mother.
The abuse included spanking his stepson with a wooden spoon until he bled, putting cayenne pepper in his food, duct-taping his nose shut and forcing him to stand up all night when he was only 3, she said.
Sadowski's public defender, Justin Racette, sought a sentence of 20 years in prison. In his sentencing memorandum, Racette said Sadowski did not assault his son and did not seek treatment for the boy's injuries because he was afraid he would lose custody.
“Certainly, Mr. Sadowski believes that his behavior in the case was criminally and morally condemnable,” Racette said in his memo. “His position throughout the trial was that his naivete and fear led him to fail his son and caused his death.”