Crime & Safety

Newport Teen Gets Maximum Sentence For Abuse of Infant Son

DeAnthony Allen, 19, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Providence Superior Court Wednesday.

19-year-old Newporter DeAnthony Allen, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Wednesday morning for leaving his 3 1/2 month-old son blind and disabled following an incident in July 2010.

The Providence Journal reports that Allen was the first to be sentenced under Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Kilmartin’s newly-formed Child Abuse Unit. Read more here

According to a December press release from Kilmartin's office, the unit will “prosecute individuals charged with physical and sexual abuse of children.”

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"Physical and sexual abuse of children cuts across all strata of our society, and affects us all," Kilmartin stated in the release. "We believe that child abuse is more than simply another criminal justice issue. The complexity of the cases and the overriding need to consider the welfare of the child first makes dealing with these cases a specialized job, which requires diligence, patience and talen.

According to the release, in 2011, 40 individuals were charged with child molestation and 34 individuals were charged with child abuse or neglect. Individuals charged in incidents where the child died due to the abuse were not included in those numbers. 

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