Massachusetts man jailed for up to 15 years for biting 3-year-old girl, mutilating her lip

Mass. man jailed for biting 3-year-old girl

TAUNTON, Mass. — A Massachusetts judge has ordered a 37-year-old man to serve 12 to 15 years in state prison for beating and biting his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter so severely that he permanently disfigured the child.

Bryan James of New Bedford was sentenced Monday, three days after a jury found him guilty of three counts of assault and battery of a child and one count of simple assault and battery.

Prosecutors accused the James of abusing his live-in girlfriend’s daughter in 2007. Doctors said the girl’s lip was mutilated, and appeared to have been bitten off, while her ear was completely misshapen.

The judge has also sentenced James to begin serving 15 years’ probation after he is released.

Bristol County prosecutor Sam Sutter says James’ actions were “the embodiment of human depravity.”