South Carolina – In a case described by prosecutors in South Carolina as one of the most disturbing instances of child abuse they have ever encountered, a 28-year-old father, identified as I. Tatro, has been sentenced for the prolonged torture of his 8-year-old daughter. The child, whose life was marked by relentless cruelty, was subjected to beatings, starvation, humiliation, and psychological torment at the hands of her own father and other adults in the home.
Tatro pleaded guilty to 20 counts of unlawful neglect of a child and one count of obstruction of justice. On Monday, a judge sentenced Tatro to five decades in state prison, delivering a measure of justice for a child whose suffering spanned far beyond the physical. His co-defendant and the victim’s stepmother, Tenika D., was sentenced last month to 35 years in prison for the same charges. Two other family members, the step-grandmother identified as Trina D. and the step-uncle identified as R. Dezotelle, also face charges, with their cases still pending.
Among the many horrors detailed during court proceedings, Tatro was said to have once given his daughter animal feces as a Christmas gift. Prosecutors revealed that he regularly humiliated and degraded her with sickening force, including telling her he wished her mother had “vacuumed her out before she was born”—a chilling reference to abortion. Assistant Solicitor T. Leibert told the court the father made the girl eat gummy laxatives, saying they were candy. After ingesting them, she would soil herself, and Tatro would force her to clean up her own mess. She was made to wear pull-ups at 8 years old. In one instance, after vomiting, she was reportedly forced to eat her own vomit.
Tatro’s abuse extended to physical beatings with cords, boards, and even frying pans. The child was also forced to stand in a garbage can, endure cold “hypothermia” baths, sleep in closets, and kneel inside wooden crates. She was routinely denied access to the bathroom and punished for accidents by having her face rubbed into the floor. When deputies first encountered the child in September 2022, they found her limping and covered in temporary tattoos—used by the stepmother to hide extensive bruising. A DSS caseworker who had visited the home multiple times had never been able to see the child, as the adults would hide her.
Once rescued, medical evaluations confirmed the child had been subjected to sustained, intentional harm that fit the criteria of child torture. According to investigators, the girl later said, “This is the best day of my life,” after being removed from the home. Deputies first responded to the home after an anonymous report of abuse was made. Upon arrival, they discovered multiple children and four adults. The children were immediately placed in protective custody, and the oldest child was taken to the hospital for treatment due to the visible injuries and blood loss concerns.
The victim’s disclosures during interviews with the Children’s Advocacy Center were clear and credible, offering investigators a harrowing account of a life filled with pain. Prosecutors said Tatro’s goal wasn’t just discipline—but domination, humiliation, and dehumanization. He will now spend the next 50 years behind bars. The child he tried to destroy now has a chance to heal—one day at a time.
