Parents who isolated their two teenage children in a travel trailer that authorities say is filthy have been sentenced to 20 days in jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor child abuse.
Ben and Katheryn Seeley, both in their 50s, were sentenced to 20 days in jail and to probation after a plea-bargain arrangement with Iron County prosecutors, who reduced the charges from a second-degree felony to a Class A misdemeanor in exchange for the guilty pleas.
Ninth Circuit Judge Robert T. Braithwaite gave the couple credit for 10 days already served in jail.
Investigators said the Beryl couple kept their children Sarah, 16, and Anthony, 17, in a 5-by-10-foot travel trailer behind their house without heat, lights or plumbing. They also said the trailer had a broken window and was filled 1 foot deep with garbage.
Normand Laub, a defense witness who testified at the sentencing hearing, said the children had been living separately from the parents for several years. He said the children lived in the trailer during the winter when temperatures dropped to minus 20.
He said the children appeared healthy and tolerant of the situation. The children have been removed from their parents' custody.