Jurors rejected Joshua Mauldin's claims he was insane at the time, convicting him Tuesday of felony injury to a child. The panel deliberated for 6 1/2 hours over two days before sentencing Mauldin to prison and fining him $10,000 for injuring his daughter Ana.
Mauldin was teary-eyed after hearing the sentence. His mother, Joanie, loudly sobbed in the courtroom after the verdict was read.
Before Mauldin was taken away, Ana's foster mother, Heather Croxton, told him during an emotional victim impact statement about the pain he's caused his daughter.
As she cried, Croxton described in detail how after being injured, Ana's left hand was so burned, there was no skin, no muscle, no fat, only tendon and bone. She told Mauldin about Ana's screams as she's undergone painful surgeries and physical therapy, which will continue for years.
Ana suffered second- and third-degree burns to her left ear, cheek, hand and shoulder and has required several skin grafts. Part of her left ear had to be amputated.
"There is no excuse for your actions and I hate that one day you will be set free and allowed to move on with your life while Ana continues to pay for your actions," Croxton told Mauldin, who will be eligible for parole after he serves half his sentence.
"I hope that somehow you pay for what you have done to this innocent, beautiful baby girl," said Croxton, whose husband is a step-cousin to the girl's mother, Eva Mauldin.
Prosecutors had wanted Joshua Mauldin to be sentenced to the maximum of life in prison.
But Galveston County prosecutor Xochitl Vandiver said she was satisfied with the sentence.
"It's extremely important for people to know that just because this case was sensational, it doesn't mean that (child abuse) goes away," she said. "Child abuse is an important issue. It should be focused on."
Before putting Ana in the Galveston hotel-room microwave, Mauldin had punched the then 2-month-old child and placed her in the room's safe and refrigerator.
Joshua Mauldin Sentenced 25 Years in Prison for Microwaving Baby Daughter
Joshua Mauldin is a mad father! This 20-year-old psycho dad was found guilty of putting up her two-month-old infant daughter Ana in a hotel microwave and turning it on for up to 20 seconds. Joshua Mauldin was sentenced 25 years in prison by a jury in Galveston, Texas on Wednesday, March 26.