Brenda Sullivan, a Florida mother, was sentenced to 20 years in prison yesterday for starving and keeping her adopted son in a cage.

In January Sullivan pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated child abuse, with prosecutors opting to drop the lesser child neglect charges. Her husband was also arrested, but died in January 2007 while awaiting trial.

Her 17-year-old son weighed only 49 pounds when child welfare workers found him caged up in 2005 at their home. Sullivan told the judge at the time that authorities had told her to keep the boy, who apparently had medical and emotional problems, in a crib.

There's a huge difference between a cage and a crib. Plus, it's doubtful that any person would tell a grown woman to keep a boy of that age in a crib. Good luck finding one his side.

Two other children, 13-year-old twins, who had been adopted by Sullivan, testified they were kept in similar cages.

Sullivan's lawyer, Charles Fletcher, said they would appeal, on the basis that he doesn't believe prison is the right choice for Sullivan, since she does not pose a threat to society. Maybe not, but anyone who adopts children, only to starve them and cage them like animals has some serious problems.

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