Ronald Hutton

A Leesburg man charged in connection with a child abuse case that spanned nearly a year will spend a year in prison.

Ronald Hutton, 21, was sentenced Nov. 26 by a Loudoun County Circuit Court judge to five years in prison. The judge suspended four years of the sentence and ordered Hutton to serve 10 years of supervised probation.

Hutton pleaded guilty Aug. 24 to two counts of cruelty and injures to children. He faced up to five years in prison on each charge.

One incident, according to Leesburg Police, occurred in May 2011 when the victim, a family member, was 16 months old.

The charges stemmed from an investigation of another allegation of abuse. The victim in both cases, police said, is the same family member.

According to a Leesburg Police Department report, Hutton had already been investigated and charged on Jan. 25 with one count of cruelty to children for an incident that occurred the same month. At the time of the January assault, the victim was 2 years old.

Following that incident, Hutton was released on a personal recognizance bond by a magistrate judge.

However, as Leesburg detectives continued their investigation into the Jan. 25 incident, they found evidence of prior abuse to the same victim.

Police say during the investigation, Hutton confessed to an incident that occurred in May 2011, when the victim was 16 months old.