An Alabama man received three life sentences by a Dale County judge Thursday for abusing his girlfriend’s young children, including burning them with a blowtorch, court records showed.

Howard Anderson, 54, of Ariton, pleaded guilty last month to three counts of aggravated child abuse and three counts of chemical endangerment of a child, records showed.

Anderson and his girlfriend, Ashleigh Ableman, were arrested in 2023 on allegations he abused his Ableman’s children, who ranged in age from 4 to 9.

The children testified during Anderson’s trial that Anderson choked them, held their heads under water and burned them with a blowtorch, Fox 10 reported.

Dale County Circuit Court Judge William H. Filmore sentenced Anderson to life in prison on the three aggravated child abuse counts and to 20 years in prison on the chemical endangerment counts.

Ableman, 28, of Ariton, faced the same charges and pleaded guilty in her case last year.

She was sentenced to 20 years in state prison, with 15 of those years suspended, meaning she will serve five years in prison.