EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A southwestern Illinois man has been ordered to spend 38 years in prison for his role in the fatal beating of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son. Thirty-four-year-old Sean Starwalt was sentenced Thursday in Madison County, where he pleaded guilty in September to first-degree murder. Authorities say Starwalt hit Jeremiah Bradford in the head, chest and abdomen in South Roxana in September 2010. The boy's mother, 35-year-old Patricia Cage, also is charged with first-degree murder. Authorities contend Cage failed to protect her son from the abuse and didn't seek medical attention for his injuries until it was too late. Cage has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed in Edwardsville, awaiting trial.
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