A Colorado woman convicted earlier this year of child abuse will spend at least 32 years in state prison for the long-term abuse of her 6-year-old adopted son.
According to The Journal, a Montezuma County judge sentenced Garland Malcolm to the maximum amount of time for child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury.
“Today, the child injured in this incident received some small amount of justice,” 22nd District Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Reed said. “[He] will never recover from his injuries, and will never regain the life he had.”
Court documents indicate that Malcolm and her husband adopted the child and his siblings in 2020, but by January 2022, the victim had been abused so severely that he was taken unresponsive to the Southwest Memorial Hospital. Due to signs of abuse, the medical contacted the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office.
Sgt. Bryan Hill said the the medical staff found a brain bleed and intubated the victim, along with a skull fracture, torn neck ligaments and hemorrhages in both retinas. Malcolm claimed the boy injured himself but the medical staff said that there is no way the injuries were self-inflicted.
“The child can’t walk, can’t talk and can’t interact with the world in any meaningful way,” Reed previously told The Journal.
While interviewing the other children in the home, which included the victim’s two siblings and the couple’s biological child, detectives learned that they were made to run laps for being “naughty.” They were also hit with hairbrushes by the defendant, resulting in bloody noses.
Reed thanked the jury last week following the sentencing, acknowledging that the case had shook the community.
“I especially thank the members of the jury, who sat through very difficult testimony and photographic evidence, respected and followed their oath, and delivered a just and fair verdict,” Reed said.
Meanwhile, the three siblings are now in the care of a new family who said they’re doing a lot better.
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[Feature Photo: Garland Malcolm/Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office]
