Colorado man to spend 142-plus years in prison for sexually abusing, locking child in basement

GREELEY, Colo. — A Colorado man was convicted of verbally, physically, emotionally, and sexually abusing a child and now faces more than a century in prison.

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The Weld County District Attorney announced Dante Larks’ conviction on charges related to child abuse and sexual assault in a news release. Larks faces 142 years to life when he is sentenced in July.

Prosecutors said that Larks would lock the child in an unfinished basement “for many nights during a period of several months.” The child was not allowed to leave the basement except for a few hours a day, and was forced, at times, to use a bucket for a bathroom, prosecutors said.

Larks is also accused of feeding the child only peanuts most days, which he would throw down the stairs, KDVR reported.

Prosecutors also told the jury that Larks would go to the basement while armed with a gun to sexually assault the child, The Denver Gazette reported.

“This case, is by far, one of the most horrific and egregious cases that our office has ever seen,” Weld District Attorney Michael Rourke said in a statement. “No child should ever experience the horror and trauma that this child will now have to live forever with. This is why we do what we do each day. We’ll do whatever it takes to ensure monsters like this will never have an opportunity to harm another child.”

A jury convicted Larks of sexual assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse causing serious bodily injury, and sexual assault on a child, The Denver Gazette reported.

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