Brandon Rodgers, 45, was sentenced Friday to more than 45 years in prison after a Lane County jury convicted him of torturing his 7-year-old son by repeatedly shocking the boy with a Taser as punishment for failing to maintain a push-up position while the rest of the family ate dinner.
Background
The Springfield Police Department began its investigation in September 2024 after receiving a report about child abuse. When officers responded, they found the boy had "multiple injuries all over his body." Investigators later determined that Rodgers and the boy's mother, Heather Black, now 38, had abused the child on at least two separate occasions using a Taser device.
However, after reviewing surveillance video from the family's Springfield, Oregon home, authorities said the abuse was far more extensive than initially reported. The footage showed Rodgers and Black physically abusing their son "multiple times a day for multiple days in a row" using the Taser and other weapons, according to prosecutors. Investigators also determined the couple menaced their 4-year-old daughter with the Taser on multiple occasions.
Lane County Circuit Judge Charles Zennaché described the abuse in detail during Friday's sentencing hearing, saying that while family members enjoyed dinner together, the boy was forced to remain in a push-up position. "When [he] starts to drop, Dad tases him and yells at him," the judge said, according to courtroom reporting from the Eugene-Springfield Lookout.
The Charges
A jury earlier this month convicted Rodgers of nearly 60 criminal counts, including multiple counts of second-degree assault, first-degree criminal mistreatment, and menacing. The charges stemmed from the systematic abuse captured on surveillance footage inside the family's home.
Judge Zennaché condemned Rodgers' conduct as "deliberate cruelty" and characterized it as "frankly torture" inflicted by a parent who should have been providing his child with "solace and strength."
"No adult did anything about it at any time, and it was shocking to me," the judge said.
Defense attorney Amanda Stanley sought leniency by presenting evidence of her client's difficult upbringing. She argued Rodgers suffered "daily beatings from his own father" during a "very, very violent childhood." Rodgers has indicated he plans to appeal the sentence.
Key Takeaways
- Brandon Rodgers was sentenced to more than 45 years in prison for torturing his 7-year-old son with a Taser
- A jury convicted him of nearly 60 charges including second-degree assault, first-degree criminal mistreatment, and menacing
- Surveillance video showed the boy being shocked repeatedly while forced to hold push-up position during family dinners
- The boy's mother, Heather Black, previously pleaded guilty and is serving a 15-year sentence
- Both children have since been adopted; adoptive parents said the children remain "terrified to tell the truth when they make mistakes"
What's Next
Rodgers' attorneys have indicated they will appeal the conviction and sentence. The Lane County District Attorney's office confirmed that both children, now in their adoptive home, continue to receive therapeutic support. No additional court dates have been scheduled for the appeals process.
"That sweet baby boy was tortured and ganged up on by both you and Heather," one of the adoptive parents told Rodgers directly during the sentencing hearing, according to the Lookout. "You treated a boy who thought of you as a dad like an animal, a subhuman, worse than a prisoner in a jail."