FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A Fort Worth-area father has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for using a box cutter to carve a pentagram into his 6-year-old son’s back in 2012.
Brent Bartel was convicted Thursday of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a family member and injury to a child. A Tarrant County jury sentenced the 42-year-old Richland Hills man on Friday. Prosecutors say he must serve 5½ years in prison before qualifying for parole. He could have been sentenced to up to life in prison.
Bartel has been diagnosed as having a schizophrenic disorder. His now-estranged wife testified that she awoke to her son’s screams and saw her husband using a box cutter on the boy. The boy, who’s now 9, was treated for his wounds.