Joplin father pleads guilty to felony child abuse

Six years in prison.

That’s the penalty handed down by a Jasper County judge to 23-year-old Blake A. Castleberry of Joplin for physically abusing his three-year-old and one-year-old sons.

In a plea deal in the court of Judge Dean Dankelson, Castleberry pleaded guilty to reduced counts of felony child abuse for incidents that prosecutors say took place last October at their home in Joplin.

The terms will run at the same time as a 2018 conviction in McDonald County for abusing a baby.

Castleberry had received a suspended sentence and probation for that crime.