An Austintown man has been sentenced to prison for a crime described by a school resource officer as the worst case of child abuse she had ever seen.

Jeremy Betts, 35, was sentenced to two years in prison during a Friday hearing before Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney.

Betts pleaded guilty last month to two cases of child endangering that were filed last year.

The charges stem from an investigation that began in January 2019 when police were called to Austintown Elementary School, where a five-year-old girl and her seven-year-old sister were found to have whip marks on their bodies.

The younger girl had multiple "whip" marks on her arms, legs, back, chest and neck.

The seven-year-old told a counselor she had a mark on her buttocks.

Police went to their Edinburg Drive home and arrested Betts, who allegedly had been using a phone charging cord to discipline the children.

One of the children was being punished for misbehaving in school, according to police.

Another child who was in the home during the beating told police that she counted more than 60 lashes delivered to one of the girls.

Gloria Betts, 62, who police say instructed the victims to lie about who beat them, was placed on probation in March after pleading guilty to obstructing official business.