DALLAS — A man convicted of abusing and starving his 8-year-old stepdaughter until she weighed only 25 pounds has received the maximum sentence for his crime, a life term behind bars.

A jury Thursday sentenced Kenneth Atkinson, 35, on a charge of serious bodily injury to a child.

The girl's mother, Barbara Atkinson, received a life sentence in January.

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The half-sibling of the abused girl testified during the trial that both her mother and stepfather locked the younger girl away almost every day and night over a period of years and told the other children not to tell anyone.

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