Prosecutor: Euclid couple shot boy with BB gun, forced him to eat off floor during years of torture

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - A Euclid man and woman convicted of torturing her son learned their punishment on Wednesday morning from a Cuyahoga County judge.

Danielle Pascale, 35, was sentenced to a maximum of approximately 67 years in prison. Her boyfriend, 39-year-old Donald Gunderman, was sentenced to up to 39 years for his role in the torture that lasted between January 2017 and August 2021.

The two pleaded guilty in September 2022 to charges that include kidnapping, endangering children, and tampering with evidence.

The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said Gunderman and Pascale “physically assaulted, tortured, and starved” the woman’s child, who is now 10 years old, for years before their arrest in September 2021.

Investigators said the boy told case workers that in some incidents, he was shot repeatedly with a BB gun, tied to a chair or made to stand up overnight without any sleep, and forced to eat food off the floor after Gunderman stepped on it.

“Austin is scarred, both physically and psychologically, and these scars will haunt him forever,” the judge said during Wednesday’s sentencing.

The judge said the boy has since recovered and is doing better with school work and family.

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