Dillan Michael Tennant appears in a booking photo (Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office)
A Georgia man will spend the next 15 years behind bars for the “horrific” beating of his two toddlers over a mess they made.
Dillan Michael Tennant, 24, was convicted in March on two counts of cruelty to children in the first degree by jurors in Catoosa County.
Earlier this week, those same jurors assessed the defendant a sentence of 30 years in state prison for those two counts — with the first 15 years to be served without the possibility of parole.
The incidents in question occurred between March 14 and March 16 last year, according to a press release issued by the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office.
At the time, the defendant and his children — a 2-year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl — lived with his father, mother, and brother in the Rossville area, a small town that is part of the Chattanooga, Tennessee, metro area.
During the three-day trial, jurors heard about the awful violence inflicted upon the two helpless toddlers.
“Tennant became enraged because while failing to properly supervise the children, they made a mess in the bedroom,” the district attorney’s office said. “Tennant struck the children repeatedly over the course of two days.”
Prosecutors note the defendant “used a board” to beat his son. Law enforcement characterized the crime as the defendant “beating them repeatedly” and “leaving horrific bruising on the toddlers.”
“Tennant then left the residence he shared with the children’s grandparents and uncle and took the children to a male friend’s home in an attempt to conceal the injuries he had inflicted on his children,” the release continues.
After returning home a few days later, the defendant’s plan quickly fell apart due to the lingering presence of “bruising and injuring” on the victims. The children’s grandparents “immediately” reached out to law enforcement.
According to law enforcement, Tennant, when questioned by investigators, “denied causing the injuries while falsely claiming” another family member must have been responsible for the crime.
“However, despite admitting to observing the severity of the injuries on his own children, Tennant never attempted to seek medical treatment for them,” the release goes on.
During the trial, child welfare advocates said the bruises on the two children were “some of the worst that had been seen in their career.”
A doctor testified that the injuries could not have been accidental and had to have occurred through repetitive strikes using a great degree of force, according to the district attorney’s office.
In addition to his sentence, Catoosa County Superior Court Judge Chris Arnt ordered Tennant not to have any contact with his children or any unsupervised contact with any other children.
“This child abuser will have plenty of time to clean his room in the Department of Corrections,” District Attorney Clayton M. Fuller said.
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