DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A woman convicted of subjecting her son to "medical" child abuse and plotting a "raid" to kidnap him from foster care was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation and 60 days in the Douglas County jail.
A judge also handed Cynthia Abcug, 53, a sentence of three years in state prison that was immediately suspended. A suspended sentence means if she complies with the conditions of her probation, she will not have to serve that time.
Judge Patricia Herron gave Abcug a week to deal with some personal issues, ordering her to report to the county jail on Nov. 10.
In August, a Douglas County jury convicted Abcug of conspiracy to commit second-degree kidnapping, a felony, and child abuse-knowingly or recklessly causing injury, a misdemeanor.
Abcug could have faced as many as five years in prison on the conspiracy charge. She had no prior criminal record – a factor judges sometimes take into consideration at sentencing.
In this case, both the prosecution and the defense asked for the same sentence -- two years of probation and 60 days of jail time, though Abcug's attorney asked that time she was locked up after her arrest in 2019 count for that.
Abcug herself stressed that she is going to school and has been sober for 23 years, working all that time with Alcoholics Anonymous.
"I just want you to know that I love all my children, and this is the hardest thing that I’ve ever gone through in my life," she told Judge Herron. "I know that I made mistakes. I’m sorry. But I did try my very best. ... I only wish the best for my children.
However, Judge Herron said she found Abcug "manipulative," and said her testimony at trial -- during which she denied all of the allegations against her -- "was without credibility completely."
"In order to believe her version of the events, you have to disbelieve everybody else," Judge Herron said.
She said Abcug's wild claims -- including online assertions that her son was taken by social workers for money -- put them, and the boy's foster family, in danger.
"These individuals were trying to help your son – trying to protect your son, potentially, from death," Herron said, "because that’s where you were headed with him. I have seen it. I’ve seen it recently in other cases, and I don’t want to see it anymore.”
After saying she was inclined to send Abcug to the state prison system, prosecutor Gary Dawson and defense attorney Ara Ohanian both argued that probation with a short jail sentence was a better option in part because it would allow Abcug to be monitored closely, continue working to finish school, and receive help -- including mental health treatment if an evaluation calls for it.
The case drew widespread attention amid the allegation that Abcug had planned to take her son back with help from followers of the conspiracy theory known as QAnon.
> The video above aired Aug. 26, 2022, when Abcug was convicted.
Prosecutors alleged that Abcug exaggerated or fabricated her son’s medical issues, subjecting him to unnecessary and, in some cases, potentially dangerous treatments and tests.
The prosecution’s case was based on testimony and records showing that the boy’s medical issues were almost always reported by Abcug and rarely seen by others.
Multiple people testified that Abcug told them her son had serious medical conditions – including a seizure disorder, a serious heart condition and brain tumors – and was terminally ill.
Prosecutors also stressed that the boy, now 10 years old, had experienced no serious medical issues since being removed from her care by court order in 2019 and placed with a foster family.
Abcug denied all of the allegations when she testified in her own defense and said she knew nothing about QAnon, a conspiracy theory that a “deep state” run by pedophiles controls the world.
Abcug said she mistakenly believed that people she met online could help her legally get her son back.
Contact 9Wants to Know investigator Kevin Vaughan with tips about this or any story: kevin.vaughan@9news.com or 303-871-1862.
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