The mother of a 4-year-old Battle Creek boy who was left in a closet and nearly died last year was sentenced Friday to 25 to 50 years in prison.
Megan Schug, 24, said in court she was sorry and, "I love every one one of my children."
But Calhoun County Circuit Court Judge Sarah Lincoln said as an assistant prosecutor and judge she has confronted rapists and murderers, "yet you stand before me as possibly the most evil person who has ever been in this courtroom."
"You were attempting to kill him slowly," Lincoln said. "Had you wanted to kill this child you could have done it quicker and more painless but you subjected him to months if not years of prolonged suffering."
Schug pleaded guilty in February to a charge of child abuse after taking her son, Maloyd Gaines to Bronson Battle Creek on March 22, 2017. He was lethargic, emaciated, and having trouble breathing and Schug told doctors he was not eating.
Chief Assistant Calhoun County Prosecutor Daniel Buscher said when he saw pictures of the boy he thought there was a mistake.
"When I first saw the pictures I mentioned to the detective that I thought, 'this wasn't a homicide?'" Buscher said. "I have never seen anyone abused to such an extent before that hadn't been dead."
Battle Creek police were called after the child arrived at the Battle Creek hospital and then was transferred to Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo in critical condition. Officers said then the boy might not survive.
Officers found a closet with an outside lock where they said the boy was kept in his own feces and urine. Doctors have testified he had open sores, gangrene toes, and was emaciated from lack of food.
Three other children also were living in the house at 261 E. Emmett St. but police said Maloyd was the most severely abused. Police later arrested Isaac Miller, 36, the father of one of Schug's children and charged him with child abuse. His trial is scheduled for July.
Foster parents Michelle Woodard and her husband began caring for the boy on May 19, 2017 and plan to adopt him.
"He is a beautiful little boy who connected with us and smiled and jumped into my arms when we first met and called me mom," she told the judge. "He had the brightest smile and just wants to be shown love and affection."
But Woodard said Maloyd barely spoke and had serious physical injuries.
"He hoarded his food and hid it in the closet and guarded his food when he was eating," she said. "He had to have someone with him at all times when he was eating because he was at risk of choking because he ate so fast and swallowed his food without chewing. He would not sleep in his bed or his bedroom. He would put his blanket and pillow in a closet."
Woodard said the boy's psychological injuries are significant.
"He would be calm one moment and then into a fit of rage with his eyes glassed over and he would become angry and aggressive. He would rip my hair out and try to bite me in the face and punch and kick us," she said.
"He would act as though he was pulling off his belt and hit himself and put his hands around his neck and squeeze." He had frequent rages, night terrors and was aggressive and abusive to himself and others.
The boy opened his wounds and "he would rip open the tips of his toes and rip off the dressings and dig into his wounds and throw blood clots."
While he has made progress and is able to play and take turns with others, Woodard said the boy sometimes becomes enraged and tries to harm himself and others.
Foster parent Michelle Woodard wipes away tears as she speaks about Maloyd Gaines. (Photo: Trace Christenson/The Enqurier)
"He is laughing at any pain response we show," she said.
Maloyd suffers from PTSD, severe trauma and anxiety, she said. "He fears that Megan and Issac have a key to get out of jail. He locks the doors and checks them and closes the curtains so that Megan and Issac can not see him. He always asks for the closet doors to be closed.
"I plead with the court to have mercy on Maloyd and sentence Megan to the maximum sentence allowed," Woodard said. "Allow him to feel safe and trust and allow him to heal and be a child that is receiving love and who can be excited about life, a life that is filled with smiles and love."
Schug's attorney, Ronald Pichlik, said his client has completed her GED during her nearly one year in jail and was willing to cooperate in the case against Miller, 36. He has told police he was living in the house several days a week but denied inflicting any abuse on Schug or the children. His trial is scheduled for July.
Schug told the judge she was sorry. "That man beat me and tore us down and threatened to kill me and threatened my children. I did what I felt was keeping him (Maloyd) away from Isaac. I have broken ribs and broke teeth from trying to keep him away from Maloyd. I have never said I didn't want him. I love every one of my children. If I could go back and take it back I would and I am very sorry that I allowed it to happen."
Buscher said recorded jail calls showed Schug, talking with someone about a court proceeding to remove all children from her custody and she said, "that's OK. I never wanted that (expletive) retard anyways."
"Children were nothing more than a meal ticket for her," Buscher said. "There are not adequate words for what she did to her own flesh and blood, let alone any child."
Lincoln noted that Schug contended the child had mental issues.
"Children with mental problems deserve more love and more support than anyone," the judge said. "Your answer was to lock him in a closet and torture him.
"You were starving him to death. You were attempting to kill him slowly. There are homicide victims who have less trauma than this child.
"You were the mother and most mothers would have gladly put themselves in a situation of risk to save their children," Lincoln said. "That thought did not cross your mind or the thought of getting out of that situation. There are no adequate words to describe the torture you put your child through. There also is no adequate sentence to reflect what you did to your child. Your child suffered far more and will continue to suffer far more than any victim who has come before me in this courtroom.
"He will never be free of the emotional scars of these events."
Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TChristenson
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