A former sergeant at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort in South Carolina pleaded guilty to felony child abuse involving his 6-year-old adoptive son, avoiding prison time due to a military-specific diversionary program.
Ian Futrell, 40, of Beaufort, received a yearlong prison sentence for his conviction but he will not be incarcerated unless he violates the conditions of a veterans court program. The program includes anger management sessions, substance abuse counseling and random drug and alcohol testing.
Circuit Court Judge Carmen Mullen handed down the sentence Jan. 15.
At the time of his arrest in June 2022, Port Royal police said Futrell attempted to choke the 6-year-old boy, pushed him down the stairs and threw him into a metal dog kennel, leaving him with red marks and bruises across his face and body.
Futrell reportedly hurt the boy because the child was having an emotional outburst. These were common for the 6-year-old, who his mother described as a special needs child with a handful of psychiatric disorders.
The crime was labeled as "non-violent" on Futrell's sentencing sheet, making him eligible for the veterans treatment program.
Arriving at MCAS in early 2020, Futrell served as a gunnery sergeant, which is a staff noncommissioned officer in charge of training programs and managing weapons.
He was separated from the Marines on November 10, 2023, "under honorable conditions," according to a Department of Veterans Affairs letter obtained by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. Also known as a "general discharge," the classification is typically applied due to inadequate performance or minor misconduct. Veterans with a general discharge are still eligible for most benefits but cannot reenlist.
MCAS officials declined to answer questions about Futrell's status in the Marines. A Freedom of Information Act request for any discharge or separation documents was denied March 4 because the release of those forms "would constitute an unwarranted invasion" of Futrell's privacy, Lt. Col. A.R. Lindberg wrote in a final response letter.
Air station leadership held an administrative hearing in April 2023 to decide whether Futrell would be removed from the U.S. Marine Corps. The non-criminal hearing addressed the sergeant's alleged child abuse, steroid abuse and extramarital sexual conduct, according to emails sent from the Marines' legal team. A request for documents related to the proceeding was denied.
Suzanne Turner, Futrell's ex-wife, now has full custody of the two young boys, who were adopted in early 2022 from a small village in Hungary. Her ex-husband's abuse has left both her sons with lasting trauma and was "swept under the rug" by Marine officials, she said.
"Ian has claimed that his own PTSD is the reason he hurt (the 6-year-old boy) so severely," Suzanne Turner said in her impact statement at the Beaufort County Courthouse during the mid-January sentencing hearing. "While I acknowledge the struggles that PTSD can create, it is not an excuse for abuse. Using it as justification for his actions is not only unacceptable but also undermines the real accountability he should face."
'It Was Like Something Snapped'
Port Royal police arrested Futrell in June 2022 on a charge of unlawful conduct toward a child, a felony offense encompassing child abandonment and abuse. It's punishable by up to 10 years in prison under South Carolina law.
Futrell and Turner adopted two young boys from Hungary in April 2022, just two months prior to the incident. Like many other international adoptions, the process wasn't easy, lasting 20 months and costing nearly $60,000, Turner said.
In the weeks leading up to the incident, Turner said, her ex-husband seemed like "dad of the year" -- carrying the boys on his shoulders, buying them toys and teaching them how to ride a bike.
But those behaviors soon came to a sudden stop, she said.
"It was like something snapped," Turner said. "He just kind of withdrew. He wasn't really helpful with the boys anymore. He was losing patience with them."
Turner added that her older son is a special needs child, having been diagnosed with a handful of disorders prior to his adoption. Before doctors in Charleston found the right mix of medication, he was prone to emotional outbursts.
"These were things that we knew we were getting into," Turner said of her son's diagnoses. The child was "badly abused" during his time in Hungary's foster care system, which contributed to his condition, she said.
One of the child's outbursts came on June 9, 2022. Futrell was watching the boys at the couple's Beaufort home while Turner was away at an appointment, she said.
Heading back home, Turner received a text from her husband, saying he could not deal with the child. According to the police report, when she arrived and asked her husband what happened, Futrell responded, "(the child) was crying and wouldn't listen, so I smacked the s---- out of him."
Turner rushed the boy to Beaufort Memorial Hospital. A physician told police the bruising was consistent with a fall and that red marks on the child's neck appeared to be from an adult hand.
The boy spoke Hungarian and a small amount of English. Using Google Translate, doctors asked how he was hurt.
"Papa went boom boom," the child replied, making a pushing motion and pointing at a picture on his iPad of the stairs in his house.
From the boy's injuries and translated testimony of him and his younger brother, police accused Futrell of choking the 6-year-old boy, pushing him down the stairs and throwing him into the side of a metal dog kennel.
Futrell was indicted by a grand jury in November 2022 and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing.
Christopher J. Geier, a Beaufort criminal defense attorney representing Futrell, did not respond to a request for comment.
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