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Couple sentenced to 30 years after daughter found living in cage

Posted at 3:29 PM, Jun 10, 2013
and last updated 2013-06-10 23:57:31-04

Gloucester, Va. - Brian and Shannon Gore have both been sentenced to 30 years behind bars after police found their daughter living in a makeshift cage back in 2011.

They received 10 years each for child neglect and abuse and 20 for aggravated malicious wounding.

"I would do anything to give back all of this," said Shannon Gore in court today. "I'm so, so sorry."

Officials say they found the girl inside of the cage naked, malnourished and living in her own waste. The girl was 6-years-old at the time and weighed less than 20 pounds. She started eating her own flesh and feces to survive.

Shannon Gore says she was pregnant with the girl when she was 17-years-old. She says she and her husband decided to hide the girl because they thought Brian would be arrested for statutory rape.

Shannon Gore says they stopped caring for the girl after the death of their son.

"Your daughter looks like somebody in a Nazi death camp," the judge said to the couple.

Prosecutors say the damage the girl suffered will last a lifetime. She has now been adopted by another family and she's about 8-years-old now. She is now functioning at the level of a 3-year-old.

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