A DAD who locked up his adopted son in a cramped room without air conditioning and only a bucket for a toilet has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Tim Ferriter, 48, was found guilty of child abuse after detectives found video footage of the cruel punishment his 14-year-old son had to endure at their Florida home.

Speaking in court for the first time, Ferriter begged the judge for mercy before hearing his fate.

He spoke to his family and apologized for everything they’ve gone through due to his actions, NBC affiliate WPTV reports.

Speaking to the judge, he said: “I ask that you allow me to serve my sentence outside the jail or prison, under house arrest or a monitor under probation so as to be able to support the ones I love.”

Before the trial, Ferriter was offered a two-year plea deal, but his lawyers rejected it as he maintained his innocence.

His lawyers admitted that their client made poor choices, but argued that his son’s behavioral issues drove his actions

After sitting stone-faced through the entire trial, Ferriter could be seen breaking down into tears during his son’s victim impact statement.

The now 16-year-old boy, who remained anonymous throughout the trial asked the court to forgive his father.

“My father was a good person who just made a really serious mistake,” he said during the sentencing.

“I still love you and I will always love you until the end of my days.”

The child asked Judge Howard Coates to sentence his father to six months of jail followed by five years of probation.

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Ferriter’s defense attorney Prya Murad filed a motion for the judge to impose a sentence below the lowest permissible punishment.

But Assistant State Attorney Brianna Coakley argued that Murad’s request wasn’t legally valid.

Murdan said her client felt deep remorse for his actions, but the judge questioned ever seeing proof that was so.

“I heard him apologize and say he was sorry to his children for putting them in this position, but I don’t think I heard one single time him say he was sorry for how he treated R.F. (his son),” Coates said.

“I mean, if he did, he must have glossed over it because I didn’t receive it as such.”

Ferriter’s wife Tracey faces similar abuse charges, but the start date of her trial remains unclear.

HAUNTING FOOTAGE

In February 2022, Tim and his wife Tracy were arrested for locking their son in the tiny room of their Jupiter home for up to 18 hours a day.

The boy wasn’t allowed to have any control over the lights or air conditioning and had to use the bathroom in a bucket in the cramped space, prosecutors said.

Ferriter set up a Ring camera in the windowless room that captured moments of the dad screaming at his adopted son before deadbolting a door to the room.

The teen, referred to as R.H., declared to the court that the punishment was “dehumanizing” and “like genocide.”

He admitted to having bad behavior, which included hacking school computers, stealing, and trying to give his four-year-old brother beer to see if it was bad for him.

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