UPDATE: Castlewood father sent to prison for child abuse

The Russell County father convicted in January on child abuse charges was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

A Circuit Court judge suspended four years of Michael Park’s sentence. He was also charged with neglect causing injury and reckless endangerment.

Park and his live-in girlfriend kept the child in an outdoor building with a bucket for a bathroom. The child’s leg was amputated due to frostbite.

The juvenile is now in the custody of family members in another state.

Here is the statement on the case issued by Commonwealth’s Attorney Zach Stoots:

Lebanon, VA – On April 11, 2024, the Russell County Circuit Court sentenced Michael Shik
Park, a 44 year-old man from Castlewood, Virginia, to a total of fifteen years with four years
suspended on two child abuse and neglect charges. On the Child Abuse and Neglect Causing
Serious Injury, the Court imposed ten years with two years suspended. On the Reckless
Endangerment of a Child, the Court imposed five years with two years suspended. The
sentencing guidelines in the case called for a range of active incarceration of eleven months to
two years and seven months. The maximum sentence allowed by law for Child Abuse Causing
Serious Injury is ten years. The maximum penalty on Reckless Endangerment is five years.
The sentence was imposed after Park was found guilty by a jury following a week-long trial in
January 2024. That trial was the result of an investigation that took place in January 2023 in the
Gravel Lick section of Russell County.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Zack Stoots stated, “We are pleased with the jury verdict in the case
and glad that the Court departed from the sentencing guidelines.” Stoots argued during the
hearing that the sentencing guidelines were wholly inadequate while asking for the maximum
sentence allowed by law which in this case was fifteen years.
Stoots also noted, “The countless hours of investigation by the Russell County Sheriff’s Office
and the Virginia State Police led to the convictions and the sentence in this case.”
This case was investigated by the Russell County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the
Virginia State Police. This case was prosecuted by the Commonwealth’s Attorney Zack Stoots
and Chief Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jessica Jackson.

(IMAGE: Bristol Broadcasting News Archives)