A Dale County judge sentenced an Alabama man to three life sentences on Thursday for torturing his girlfriend’s small children, including burning them with a blowtorch, according to court records.
Howard Anderson, 54, of Ariton, pled guilty last month to three counts of aggravated child abuse and three counts of chemical endangerment of a child, according to records.
In 2023, allegations that Anderson had harmed Ableman’s children, ages 4 to 9, led to the arrest of Anderson and his girlfriend, Ashleigh Ableman.
During Anderson’s trial, the children claimed that he choked them, kept their heads under water, and burned them with a blowtorch, according to Fox 10.
Dale County Circuit Court Judge William H. Filmore sentenced Anderson to life in prison on three charges of aggravated child abuse and 20 years for chemical endangerment.
Ableman, 28, of Ariton, faced the same accusations and pleaded guilty to them last year.
She received a sentence of 20 years in state prison, with 15 of those years suspended, meaning she will serve five years.