What to Know
In September 2024, police in Oregon received a disturbing child abuse report involving a 7-year-old boy. The Springfield Police Department and Department of Human Services began investigating the case and found the child with multiple wounds reportedly caused by his father.
The child’s parents, 44-year-old Brandon Bret Rogers and 36-year-old Heather Black, allegedly used a taser on their son as a form of discipline. Surveillance from inside the home showed the parents systematically tortured their son and will spend decades in prison for their crimes.
Police found evidence of abuse against Rogers and Black.
According to a release, police received a call about an abuse victim in mid-September. A few weeks later, on October 3, Springfield Police located Rogers and Black at their residence and arrested them on initial charges of assault III, unlawful use of a stun gun, and criminal mistreatment I. They were released a short time later. Detectives served a searched warrant and began processing large amounts of digital evidence, including hours of video surveillance.
“As the investigation progressed, a more heinous environment was discovered where Rogers and Black were physically abusing their son multiple times a day for multiple days in a row using a Taser and other weapons. Rogers and Black also menaced their 4-year-old daughter on multiple occasions with the Taser,” the release explained.
The children faced true cruelty.
On October 29, police arrested Rogers and Black a second time for additional crimes. They placed their children in the care of family, and the couple awaited their day in court. According to the Eugene-Springfield Lookout, a judge sentenced Rogers on July 24, 2026, to more than 45 years in prison. During a sentencing hearing, Lane County Circuit Judge Charles Zennaché called the abuse “deliberate cruelty” and came from “somebody they should have found solace and strength from.”
Rogers’ attorney argued his client faced abuse as a child.
Rebecca Anstine, Rogers’ court-appointed attorney, said her client “had a very, very violent violent childhood” and “incurred daily beatings from his father.”
The couple now caring for the victims appeared by phone and shared an update on the children the Eugene-Springfield Lookout reported.
“They’ve been terrorized and, now years later, they’re still terrified [and] terrified to tell the truth when they make mistakes,” one of the adults shared. A simple mistake ended with the children “curling up in a ball to protect themselves.”
The adults alleged Rogers’ trial caused the children to regress, relieving their torture.
“That sweet baby boy was tortured and ganged up on by both you and Heather,” one of the parents said. “You treated a boy who thought of you as a dad like an animal, a subhuman, worse than a prisoner in a jail.”
Rogers will spend decades in prison.
Per the Eugene-Springfield Lookout, Black pleaded guilty in 2025 to five counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, five counts of second-degree assault and one count of unlawful use of a weapon as part of a plea deal. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A jury found Rogers guilty of nine counts of second-degree assault, 11 counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, and more than along with more than three dozen additional charges connected to child abuse. He’ll spend a minimum of 40 years and 10 months of his 45 years in prison.
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