Man gets prison time after plea in malnourished boy’s death

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – A judge has sentenced a western Indiana man to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of child neglect in connection with the death of a 9-year-old disabled boy who lived with him and his parents.

Thirty-four year-old Chad Kraemer of Fontanet also was sentenced Thursday to two years of in-home detention and two years of probation in connection with the February 2017 starvation death of Cameron Hoopingarner, who was blind, had cerebral palsy and weighed less than 15 pounds when he died. Kraemer’s parents were Hoopingarner’s guardians.

The Tribune-Star reports one neglect charge concerned Kraemer’s own two children, who tested positive for exposure to methamphetamine.

Kraemer admitted in court an addiction to meth, which he said he used every other day for five years.

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com