Parents Sentenced for Son's Torture

MIAMI (AP) â€” A husband and wife were sentenced to prison for torturing their son because he had an illness that made him vomit frequently. <br><br>Ricardo Jose Davila, 37, was sentenced Monday to three

Tuesday, January 23rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) â€” A husband and wife were sentenced to prison for torturing their son because he had an illness that made him vomit frequently.

Ricardo Jose Davila, 37, was sentenced Monday to three life sentences and 40 additional years in prison. Josefa Davila, 44, was sentenced to 89 years.

The 12-year-old boy was locked in a bathroom for a week and tied up and blindfolded with a bucket taped to his head, prosecutors said.

The parents admitted forcing the boy to eat his own vomit, beating his hands with wooden spoons and dropping a sledgehammer on his feet, police said.

``It doesn't matter what your intentions to your child were,'' Judge Alex Ferrer said. ``What you did to him was worse than is done to a prisoner of war.''

The boy and two siblings came from Nicaragua in February to be with their parents, who ran an ice cream truck business. They have been sent back to their grandparents in Nicaragua.

In court, Ricardo Davila asked for his children's forgiveness, and he and his wife said they had only been trying to help their son.

``I wanted to make him a good man to God and to society,'' she said. ``Who has not made mistakes?''

All the children wrote letters asking for mercy for their parents.

``They wanted to correct my life and my mistakes,'' the boy wrote. ``I'm sure God will forgive them and I forgive them with all my heart. I love them with all my heart.''