Man who locked kids in bedroom gets 4-year prison term

By Associated Press

A northeast Nebraska man has been given four years in prison for locking two of his children in a bedroom and denying them food.

Dixon County District Court records said 55-year-old Patrick Henderson, of Wakefield, also was sentenced Friday to a year of post-release supervision after he leaves prison.

He'd pleaded guilty to two counts of child abuse -- one a felony and the other a misdemeanor.

His wife, 43-year-old Angel Henderson, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of intentional child abuse resulting in injury.

Prosecutors said the Hendersons fed their 14-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister only once a day and not at all if they failed to finish their schoolwork. The boy also told officials his mother would choke, kick and hit them.