Couple admit abusive punishment of kids

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STEUBENVILLE, Ohio, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- An Ohio couple have admitted punishing his three children by imprisoning them in storage boxes and pouring water on them.

Under James Taylor's plea agreement, he will be sentenced to a year in prison, WTOV-TV, Steubenville, reported. His wife

Samantha, who spent four months in jail after her arrest, is to spend two years on probation.

Jefferson County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Bruzzese said Taylor was the one who planned the grotesque punishments for the children. The prosecutor said Samantha Taylor was mostly guilty of the "repulsive" act of allowing the abuse.

Investigators said the children, ages 5, 6 and 8, were also forced to stand in corners holding weights with pins and needles on the floor around them.

"I can't imagine that they would be able to stay on their tiptoes for all that long, so if and when they were to fall, their feet would have to come down on top of these pins and needles," Bruzzese said.

Two other men pleaded guilty to failing to stop the mistreatment of the children. They are to receive probation.

The Taylors were arrested last year after someone who came to the house found the children in plastic storage totes, pulled them out and called police.

The children are now being cared for by relatives.