A Tokyo court has handed down a 13-year prison sentence for a father charged with abuse that led to the death of his 5-year-old stepdaughter.

The Tokyo District Court on Tuesday sentenced 34-year-old Yudai Funato, from Tokyo's Meguro Ward.

He had been charged with parental neglect resulting in death as well as injurious assault.

He and his ex-wife Yuri were accused of not giving enough food to their daughter, Yua, and of not providing sufficient medical care. The girl died in March of last year.

The prosecution demanded an 18-year prison term for the father, while his counsel was asking for 9 years.

In Tuesday's ruling, presiding judge Minoru Morishita said he profoundly sympathizes with the young girl, who suffered tremendous pain and despair as her stepfather severely restricted her diet and regularly inflicted bodily harm on her.

The judge said she was deprived of any medical treatment until she lost weight and died.

The judge said that the defendant committed acts of severe abuse, abetted by his wife, and alone inflicted violence. He condemned the defendant's crime as one of the most heinous of this kind in the country.

Last month, Yua's mother was sentenced to 8 years in prison. She is appealing the ruling.

Source: ANNnewsCH