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US mother gets life sentence for mutilating son
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-18 15:50

HOUSTON: A woman was sentenced to 99 years in prison on Monday for cutting off her infant's genitals in the US state of Texas.

The punishment was the maximum one allowed for Katherine Nadal, a 28-year-old former cheerleader, according to the local newspaper Houston Chronicle. Jurors had been choosing among possible sentences ranging from probation to life in prison.

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The mother was also fined US$10,000.

The same jury on Friday convicted Nadal of first-degree felony injury to a child. Prosecutors said Nadal was high on drugs when she mutilated her 5-week son in 2007, but her attorneys blamed her family dog for the attack.

Testimony from doctors showed that Nadal's son would have to endure many more surgeries and hormone treatment for the rest of his life.