An Iowa woman and her father, Megan and Rodney Staude, will spend decades behind bars for the 2023 murder of Megan’s newborn boy. With the help of her father, Megan kept the baby in a box for days, and later left him abandoned in a snowy ditch.

As reported by Law & Crime, Megan and Rodney Staude were both sentenced to 50 years in prison on Monday, September 22. Megan, 28, had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in July, while Rodney, 67, pleaded guilty to the same charge on Monday.

During their sentencing hearing, Prosecutor Douglas Eichholz read aloud a statement shared by the boy’s father.

“I hope you get what you deserve,” the father said. “I’m totally and emotionally broken for what you did to our son who was a baby. Who does that to an innocent child? Who does that to a baby?”

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