NILES, Mich. (AP) — A woman who disciplined her 6-year-old son by shutting him inside a running clothes dryer was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison.
Tressa Jaroch, 28, pleaded guilty in September to first-degree child abuse.
She said she closed the dryer door on the boy March 21 to punish him for playing hide-and-seek inside the machine after she had told him not to. She admitted knowing that closing the door would start the dryer.
"I know what I did was wrong," she said during her sentencing hearing Monday. "I want to apologize to my family and my kids. I love my son with all my heart."
Ryan Jaroch had bruises and mild burns from the two minutes he spent tumbling inside the dryer, but Berrien County Judge Casper Grathwohl said the psychological scars the mother had caused were much worse. Ryan and his 8-year-old sister, who police said pulled the boy from the dryer, are in the custody of their grandparents, The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph reported.
Authorities found out about the incident a few days later when the children's father, who is separated from their mother, discovered Ryan's bruises during a visit.
The children's father, Charles Jaroch, said he worried a prison sentence would do more harm than good if Tressa Jaroch doesn't get psychological counseling. "I didn't want to see her in jail, at least until her medical condition improves," he said.