Man reaches plea deal in case of malnourished kids

PROVO, Utah (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to felony child abuse charges in the case of two malnourished children who had been locked inside separate bathrooms in Eagle Mountain.

Sekoa Aiono pleaded guilty Thursday to two second-degree and two third-degree felony child abuse counts on Thursday. It’s nearly the same plea deal as the one agreed to by his co-defendant, Mary Heath, in November.

As part of Aiono’s deal, several other charges were dismissed.

The couple was arrested in October after police found Heath’s 9-year-old niece and 8-year-old nephew had been locked inside separate bathrooms and left alone for hours.

Both children were malnourished and bruised. A doctor later said the boy also showed signs of having suffered a sexual assault.

Aiono will be sentenced on Feb. 5.