Chapter 19 - Sabella’s plea
The criminal case focused on Oren.
Not paternity deception.
Not family embarrassment.
Potential charges included child endangerment and unlawful restraint.
Prosecutors had:
Video showing repeated locked-room entries.
Staff testimony.
Oren’s statements.
Meal timing records.
Sabella’s own admissions that she locked the door because he left.
No severe physical injury.
No prolonged deprivation.
No prior criminal record.
The case resolved fourteen months after the banquet.
Sabella pleaded guilty to one felony-level child-endangerment/unlawful-restraint count under a negotiated agreement.
Sentence:
Ninety days county custody.
Two years supervised probation.
Mandatory parenting and behavioral-control treatment.
No direct unsupervised contact with Oren during supervision.
No authority over unrelated minors in formal caregiving roles during probation.
Restitution for counseling and documented costs.
The court did not criminalize her paternity deception through the child-abuse case.
Separate civil and family matters handled that.
At sentencing Sabella said:
“I locked Oren away because I wanted him out of family events.”
There.
“I told myself he preferred being alone.”
There.
“Later I knew he did not.”
There.
Then:
“I was afraid Adrian would lose his place if people focused on Oren.”
There.
The judge asked:
“Did Oren create the uncertainty around Adrian’s paternity?”
“No.”
“Then why punish him for it?”
Sabella cried.
“I don’t have a good answer.”
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Finally accurate.
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