TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after his daughter had her feet amputated due to severe frostbite following last year's weeklong winter storm.
Glenn Caldwell, 46, received his sentence during a hearing Tuesday afternoon in the 7th District Court. He entered a guilty plea to injury to a child/disabled person in November.
He was arrested April 20 last year after he did not get help for his 17-year-old daughter for nearly a week after he noticed she had frostbite in February.
She was previously diagnosed with a mental developmental delay and an intellectual disability.
Police documents show Caldwell noticed his daughter’s feet were “swollen, purple and bleeding,” and she complained about her feet hurting after the snow and ice from the winter storm melted.
He didn’t take his daughter to the doctor until Feb. 28. Caldwell said he had been “putting it off, and putting it off” taking her to the doctor said he “could not do that anymore,” an arrest affidavit read.
Caldwell has been in the Smith County Jail since his arrest on a $250,000 bond. He will receive credit for time served.
A Child Protective Services report was made on March 2 with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office involving a possible child abuse case. Health care professionals told CPS about a 17-year-old girl with a disability who was taken to the hospital for severe frostbite to her feet, which had to be amputated.
Caldwell failed to seek medical attention for his daughter after she suffered from extreme frostbite on her feet for at least five days, according to police.
In the affidavit, detectives write that Caldwell said he went without electricity for two days during the winter storm from Feb. 15 to 19, and his daughter wore shoes without socks. He told investigators he could not make her wear socks.
Caldwell said he saw blood coming from his daughter’s bedroom leading to the living room and bathroom, and he knew the blood was coming from the girl’s feet, according to the affidavit.
The girl slept in the living room and used the electric oven for heat, while Caldwell and his son used electric heaters in their rooms, the document explained.
When detectives came to Caldwell’s home, officers found blood on the girl’s bed, sheets, door and its frame, and a trail of blood throughout the residence, the affidavit stated.
