A judge has denied Edward Tuinman's plea to soften his prison sentence for abandoning his developmentally disabled and abused son last winter at an Ada County freeway rest stop.
Fourth District Judge Alan Schwartzman said a reduction "would depreciate the seriousness of the crime, regardless of the defendant's current institutional adjustment and newly emerging repentance."In June, Schwartzman ordered Tuinman, 29, to serve 31/2 to 10 years in prison.
The illiterate transient pleaded guilty to abandoning his mute 7-year-old son at the rest stop on I-84. Eddie was found Jan. 4 in a soiled T-shirt, beaten and burned.
Deputy Public Defender Mark Stewart sought reconsideration of the sentence, citing evidence that his client, a former drug abuser, is making positive strides behind bars.
Tuinman faces a felony assault charge in Yakima County, Wash., where he is accused of beating, burning and starving Eddie last winter while the family lived in a migrant labor camp.
Eddie has been receiving care in an Idaho facility that specializes in the treatment of physically and mentally handicapped children.