In a disturbing case that has gripped South Carolina, a 28-year-old man has been sentenced to decades in prison after admitting to the horrific abuse of his 8-year-old daughter. The young girl endured relentless physical and emotional torment, including beatings, being “force-fed” feces and laxatives, starvation, and other forms of cruelty.

On Monday, State Circuit Judge R. Keith Kelly delivered a 50-year prison sentence to Ian Tatro, following his guilty plea to 20 counts of unlawful child neglect and one count of obstruction of justice. The court records, reviewed by Law&Crime, depict a chilling narrative of prolonged abuse.

The child’s stepmother, Tenika Draper, faced justice last month with a 35-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the same charges as Tatro, underscoring the severity and impact of their actions.

Inset: Tenika Draper (Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office). Background: Spartanburg County Courthouse (WYFF).

Meanwhile, the legal proceedings for two additional defendants, Trina Draper and Ryan Dezotelle, remain ongoing. Trina Draper, identified as the step-grandmother, and Ryan Dezotelle, the step-uncle, are also implicated in the case, further unraveling the network of abuse surrounding the child.

“The level of abuse inflicted upon this young girl by those who were supposed to love and protect her is shocking,” remarked 7th Circuit Solicitor Barry J. Barnette. “It extended beyond the physical, deeply affecting her psychological well-being.”

In one instance, prosecutors said, Tatro even gave his daughter animal feces as a Christmas gift, Greenville NBC affiliate WYFF reported.

As Law&Crime previously reported, authorities on Sept. 2, 2022, responded to a call from the Department of Social Services requesting assistance with a child abuse investigation, the sheriff’s office said in an email to Law&Crime. The child welfare agency was alerted to the possibility of child abuse by an anonymous source.

“Upon arrival, deputies were informed by the DSS caseworker that she had been out to the home several previous times to investigate, but the adults at the home had hidden the victim from her,” the sheriff’s office said.

Upon arriving at the home, deputies found four adults and four children. Deputies said the oldest child had “a noticeable limp and temporary tattoos covering multiple visible bruises on both legs.”

The family members allegedly explained to deputies, in separate interviews, that they had recently moved down south from Vermont, Columbia NBC and CW affiliate WIS reported

The stepmother allegedly admitted to putting makeup on the child’s legs in an effort to cover the bruises once child welfare agents started visiting the residence.

The children were then taken into emergency protective custody by the DSS, the sheriff’s office said, while the oldest boy was transported to a hospital “due to the extent of the bruising and blood loss concerns.”

Left to right: Trina Draper and Ryan Dezotelle (7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office).

“The victim was interviewed at the hospital by medical personnel and one of our SVU investigators, where more detailed information was discovered,” the sheriff’s office said. “After that initial medical exam, the victim was evaluated again by a forensic doctor later last month, who stated the victim clearly met the criteria for a medical diagnosis of child torture. In forensic interviews at the Children’s Advocacy Center, the victim gave detailed and credible disclosures of multiple instances of abuse by various means from all four adults in the home.”

During court proceedings immediately following the arrests, prosecutors said that when the victim was rescued from the home, she said, “This is the best day of my life.”

Prosecutors also said that Tatro forced the victim to consume animal feces and other disturbing things.

“He [Tatro] would give her gummy laxatives and she thought it was candy because that’s what he told her,” Asst. Solicitor Tony Leibert reportedly said during previous proceedings. “She would defecate on herself and she would have to clean it up, and [he would] make her wear pullups at 8 years old. He said that he wished her mother had vacuumed her out before she was born and wish he could kill her and get away with it.”

Once, when the child threw up, Tatro reportedly forced her to eat the vomit, prosecutors said.

More direct physical abuse is also alleged to have occurred — including being sat on; being beaten with boards, cords, and frying pans; being forced to stand in a garbage can; being placed in “hypothermia baths;” being forced to stay in the closet for long periods of time and sleep there; and being forced to kneel inside wooden crates.

The girl was not allowed to use the bathroom, prosecutors said, adding that she was forced to clean up her own waste and at least once had her face rubbed in the carpet when she failed to sufficiently cleanse the area.