A.F. man sentenced in child abuse case

An American Fork man who pleaded guilty to reduced charges of child abuse was sentenced Thursday to 100 days in the Utah County Jail. James Ryan Hadlock was arrested in November 2006 and initially charged with second-degree felonies for the alleged abuse of a 1-year-old boy in his care. Hadlock called American Fork police after his infant foster son stopped breathing. While he first told police he did not know how the boy was injured, he changed his story days later. While tossing the child in the air as a game, he said, the boy had been accidentally dropped. Doctors said the infant's fractured legs, ribs and bleeding on the brain was consistent with shaking. Hadlock's defense attorney, Gary Weight, said he was surprised by Judge Gary Stott's 100-day sentence and 24-month probation. Weight said the sentencing recommendation... [read full story]