OGDEN — Judge Michael DiReda knows that young boys are mischievous, can get into trouble, can be difficult to manage and occasionally need disciplining from their parents.
But Matthew Earl Waldmiller, 39, and his wife, Diane Seifert Waldmiller, 40, engaged in behavior "so severe and so egregious and so lacking in basic human decency," that the judge said he couldn't understand.
"It just flies in the face of common sense and reason and again, basic human decency," the 2nd District judge said Friday. "Special needs or otherwise, you don’t wrap duct tape around a child’s head. … I can’t even comprehend that ever being a reasonable response."
On Friday, instead of probation and a jail term, DiReda ordered the Waldmillers to each serve one to 15 years in the Utah State Prison.
The licensed foster care couple had adopted three boys, ages 11, 10 and 7, who already had special needs. But the couple claims they became overwhelmed in dealing with the children and resorted to locking them in their bedroom for numerous hours without breaks, zip tying their wrists — sometimes behind their backs — and wrapping their heads and faces with duct tape so they could only breathe through their noses. The Waldmillers left the children with no mattresses or sheets in their rooms and painted their windows black.
The children were forced to use the air vents as urinals and found a way to sneak out of their locked room to break into the neighbor's house or search through dumpsters because they were hungry.
In August, the Waldmillers each pleaded guilty to a single count of child abuse, a second-degree felony. They were originally charged with three counts each of second-degree felony child abuse, one for each boy. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to include allegations covering all three boys in the single charge, while the remaining two counts were dismissed.
According to a presentence report prepared by Layton-based Utah Sentencing Alternatives, the Waldmillers found themselves overwhelmed with their situation but did not seek help.
"It is a situation in which well-meaning adults were ill-prepared for the magnitude of parental responsibilities and found themselves overwhelmed by the enormity of parenthood. Could they have done things differently? Absolutely. Should they have done things differently? Most definitely. Did they do the best they knew how at the time? Probably," the report states.
Before being sentenced, both Matthew and Diane Waldmiller told the judge that they wish they would have made better decisions, and that their thoughts now are on the well-being of the children.
"(I) just ask to be able to prove to you and everyone else what I did is not me. It was reactions that should never have happened," Matthew Waldmiller said before taking a long pause to hold back tears and shake his head, seemingly at himself. "Nothing makes what I did OK."
"I'd like to say how sorry I am and wish this had never had happened," concurred Diane Waldmiller. "I wish that the boys will be healthy and find homes that will love them and be able to recover."
Both defense attorneys asked the judge to sentence the couple to 210 days in jail with credit for the six months they've already served. They noted that the couple has no prior criminal history and they were unlikely to reoffend as they are no longer allowed to adopt children.
But DiReda said while he understands there are challenges with raising children with troubled pasts, the action the Waldmillers took "is so disproportionate, so off the charts in terms of just basic common sense and reason” that he said a prison sentence in this case is appropriate.
"What’s most troubling in this case to me are the restraints that you placed on these children using the zip ties, the tape that was used to tape their heads, their eyes, their ears, their mouths, leaving them with only the basic ability to breathe through their nose," he said.
DiReda said as parents, "We are in a special position of trust. We have children who depend on us for everything. And in this case, you agreed to take into your home three young boys who had already come from very difficult and challenging circumstances. You were to be their lifeline. You were to rescue them. You were to provide them with the home they had been denied up until that point."
The judge noted that in a letter by a therapist who interviewed the boys after they were removed from the house, one of the boys said they deserved what happened to them because they broke the rules.
"(It) reflects how twisted and warped his sense of right and wrong have become," DiReda said of the young boy.
The judge told the Waldmillers that "betrayal" is too kind of a word to describe what happened to the boys, and he hopes they will be able to overcome the abuse they endured in order to someday have healthy families of their own.