SPRINGFIELD, MO – A Missouri woman has been sentenced to nine years in prison following her guilty plea to charges of abusing and neglecting her two young children, conditions so severe that one child was described as a “victim of torture.”

On Friday, Alyssa Nicole Bowman, 29, admitted to two counts of child abuse and neglect in a Greene County. Additional charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Judge Jerry Harmison handed down the sentence swiftly after her plea.

The case began to unfold in May when a relative took a 2-year-old boy, found to be visibly undernourished and injured, to Mercy Hospital in Springfield. Prosecutors report that police documented the child with numerous bruises and injuries across his body, notably on his forehead, and appearing severely malnourished. An officer at the scene compared the child’s condition to images of concentration camp victims due to his sagging skin and lack of body fat.

Authorities became aware of the disturbing situation when the relative, having not seen the boy for an extended period, took immediate action upon discovering his condition. After the hospitalization, investigators from the police department and Greene County Children’s Division inspected the Bowman home. They described it as unkempt, with a pervasive foul odor, and observed the boy’s sleeping environment littered with food remnants and what seemed to be feces.

The boy was not the sole victim of neglect. His sister recounted during a forensic interview that she had been discouraged from speaking up about unpleasant tastes when she burped, a symptom of prolonged hunger.

She revealed that her parents sometimes withheld food from her, forcing her to go an entire day without eating. The girl further alleged that her parents consumed all nutritious food while she and her brother received little to eat or drink.

Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Fax revealed in court that the boy weighed only 20 pounds when rescued, highlighting the dire circumstances. The boy was diagnosed with multiple critical health issues, including acute kidney injury and developmental delays, officials said. Fax also described the child as a victim of torture.

Alyssa Bowman will be eligible for parole after serving five years of her sentence. Her husband, Joshua Bowman, who was arrested alongside her, faces legal proceedings in December.