Couple allegedly chained a 7-year-old to a treadmill and forced her to clean up with her tongue. Now they’ve been sentenced to 25 years in prison

San Diego County officials said that Devin Hughes, 39, and Kayla Reynolds, 32, were sentenced to 25 years in prison after they pleaded guilty in March to more than 10 felony counts, The US Mirror reports. The charges included torture, child abuse, corporal injury, mayhem, and assault likely to cause great bodily injury, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecutors said the 7-year-old girl had been living with Hughes, identified as her uncle, and Reynolds in a rural mobile home in Boulevard. State authorities said she was one of three children in the home, and the girl left the property in July 2025 and went to a neighbor for help.

She reportedly asked whether she could live with the neighbor because she was being beaten and abused. The neighbors contacted authorities, and deputies were sent to the scene, according to the district attorney’s office.

Officials said evidence at the Boulevard home matched the girl’s account of the abuse

Deputies reported that the girl appeared malnourished and had visible injuries, including bruises, scars, burn marks, and a black eye. She told authorities that Hughes tied her hands behind her back with a zip tie and tripped her, which she said caused the black eye.

She alleged that the couple used a pocketknife to cut her hair and vape pens to burn her skin. Prosecutors said she claimed she was starved, burned, beaten, and forced to drink dirty water from the toilet, and that food was withheld from her.

Prosecutors said she described being “forced to hold her urine to the point of wetting herself and then would be forced to clean it up using her tongue” and being “forced to sleep on the floor and would often be chained to a treadmill using a cable lock.”

Investigators said they recovered zip ties, cable locks, and vape pens at the home and that those items supported her allegations. Such cases of alleged child neglect have occurred before too, like when an Oklahoma couple was arrested for allegedly leaving three kids home alone to play pickleball. The girl was taken to Rady Children’s Hospital for treatment, where officials said she gained 5 pounds.

Prosecutors said a family member later took her in and that she is “now thriving in her new environment.” District Attorney Summer Stephan said Friday in a statement, “The level of abuse inflicted on this 7-year-old child is abhorrent and heartbreaking.”

Stephan also said, “Our prosecution team, the dedicated deputies and detectives at the Sheriff’s Office, along with the medical staff at Rady Children’s Hospital who nursed the victim back to health all stepped in to restore her health and safety. She finally has a chance to blossom without the oppressive abuse of her wicked family members.” This case highlights the severe consequences for those who abuse children, as seen when a Missouri woman was sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly trading a foster child for a monkey.