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Posted: Sunday, February 17th, 2013 7:31 AM HST

Hawaii dad gets 10 years for abusing 2-year-old

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — A federal judge in Hawaii has sentenced a former soldier to 10 years in prison for a 2011 assault on his 2-year-old son that left the boy blind and permanently brain-damaged. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports on Saturday that U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi gave the sentence to 22-year-old Marcel Reno Highwalking, calling the case one of the worst she's seen from the bench. In August 2011, Highwalking and his wife were stationed at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam when his son from a previous marriage came for a visit. Highwalking later took the comatose boy to the hospital, where doctors found several fractures along with damage to his brain and eyes. Prosecutors say Highwalking first lied about the injuries, blaming the boy's mother, but later admitted hitting and shaking him.