Photo by Jessica Broverman Sabrina Hall, of Wheeling, addresses the court during her sentencing hearing Thursday in Ohio County Circuit Court .

A case involving a mother who stood by as her boyfriend abused her 2-year-old son has been deemed “a horror movie” by Ohio County Circuit Court Judge James Mazzone.

Sabrina Hall, 18, will serve 7-27 years in prison after being convicted of watching her 2-year-old child receive abuse from her boyfriend Apollo Rice, 27. Hall did not report any of the child’s injuries, including lacerations to his face and broken bones, according to officials.

Ohio County Circuit Court Judge James Mazzone described the case as one of the worst, if not the worst, child abuse case he has presided over.

“I’ve been doing this for well over 17 years,” said Mazzone. “This has all the makings of a horror movie. … No human being, let alone an innocent child, deserves this.”

Hall addressed the court and explained why she did not reach out to authorities during the initial abuse.

“I wanted to get help, but I didn’t know what to do,” said Hall. “I wasn’t just scared for my life. I was scared for my boys’ and what he’d do to them.”

Hall went on to say she knows she should have told the truth and she knows what she did was wrong.

“I should’ve told the truth and I get what I did was wrong,” she said. “I finally told the truth a week after they took the boys from me. I was so hurt and broken down that they took the boys from me.”

During her statement, Hall called Rice “aggressive and abusive.” Defense attorney Kevin Neiswonger said Hall has been a victim her whole life and that this case is no exception.

“She’s never been involved with the legal process and is essentially paperless,” said Neiswonger. “What she did was wrong. The abuse that occurred in this case was terrible and I’m sure it was horrifying for her as well.”

Neiswonger said she made an effort to address the ill treatment toward her son. Although she did not report the abuse quickly, Hall did contact the authorities after the initial abuse.

“She’s coming forward and telling the truth about what Mr. Rice did and she told on herself,” she said. “She’s been the victim of multiple assaults. … The moment that she had the opportunity to tell someone what happened when she felt safe, she did.”

The defense went on to say it would not help society nor her children to be locked up, and that her sentenced shouldn’t be decided out of anger. Assistant prosecutor Jenna Perkins disagreed with the defense.

“This is pure evil,” said Perkins. “If he had not been evaluated that day in the emergency room, I believe we would be having a homicide hearing. … When she was present at the emergency room, she lied to the authorities and tried to blame her mother.”

Rice, who was sentenced in March, is serving 12 to 60 years in prison on 10 counts of child abuse charges related to this case. Hall will serve a minimum of seven years behind bars on four felony counts of child neglect resulting in injury and three felony counts of child neglect creating a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.

The 2-year-old child in this case had his mouth sealed shut with duct tape, had his face forced under water in a bathtub, was thrown over a gate in the family home onto a hardwood floor and sustained broken bones, facial contusions, skin injuries and facial lacerations.

The child is now in a “forever home,” said Perkins.