JACKSON, MI – It wasn’t his conscience that stopped Brandon Farnsworth as he sexually assaulted his bound and blindfolded 4-year-old nephew.

Farnsworth could no longer take the boy’s screaming, Jackson County Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Walker said on Wednesday July 10.

“It appeared it was very sadistic,” she said.

Jackson County Circuit Judge Susan Beebe on Wednesday sentenced Farnsworth, 18, to 40 to 60 years in prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

In doing so, she exceeded the sentence recommended by state sentencing guidelines.

This will assure he is a far older man before he ever again is free.

“He’s really a danger to the community,” Prosecutor Jerry Jarzynka said after the sentencing.

Farnsworth in May pleaded guilty to two counts of the crime, punishable by a mandatory minimum of 25 years in prison because of the victim’s age.

In November, the time of the offenses, he was living with his sister, the boy’s mother, in Granada Apartments off Springport Road, Blackman-Leoni Township public safety Detective Sgt. Christopher Boulter earlier said.

The public safety department had begun an investigation after Children’s Protective Services, which was already involved with the family, received information about the sexual abuse.

Blackman-Leoni Township Detective Joseph Merritt did an “excellent job” and secured a full confession from Farnsworth, who assaulted the boy multiple times, Walker said.

It was clear Farnsworth did so out of anger, she said.

He was arraigned in January on four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. Two of the counts were dismissed as a result of his plea.

Farnsworth’s lawyer, Craig Pappin, said Farnsworth had little or no previous criminal history.

Walker said, according to a pre-sentence report, he admitted to having sex with another minor. This did not result in a criminal charge.

He conceded he is “sexually compulsive,” she said.

Farnsworth’s nephew was removed from his mother’s care in February, according to court records. The woman

was

continuing

to make poor decisions for her son’s safety and supervision, according to a court record.

The boy had been placed in the custody of the Department of Human Services at least twice before 2013.

In February 2009, the child's father admitted to abusing the then 3-month-old, causing a large hematoma, a mass of clotted blood, on his scalp and other injuries. He pleaded guilty to second-degree child abuse and gave up his parental rights.

As a result of a subsequent investigation and court case, the boy’s mother confessed to taping a pacifier to his mouth when he cried and depriving him of the oxygen he was required to be on 24 hours a day, court records state.

She underwent counseling and other services and the boy returned to her home, but she continued to involve herself with the boy’s father and the child again was removed from her care.

The two were reunified in 2012 after she completed a treatment plan and court-ordered services.

As of May, the boy remained in the custody of DHS and his mother was allowed visits, records show.

A hearing in the child custody case is next scheduled for August.