COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa woman has been found guilty of torturing her mentally disabled stepson. The Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil reports that a judge found 46-year-old Rebecca Beyer guilty Friday of first-degree kidnapping and willful injury. She faces up to life in prison when she’s sentenced

Authorities say Beyer routinely abused the victim, now a 21-year-old man, severely burning him with heated eating utensils and a clothes iron and keeping him tethered to a wall in the garage with a dog leash.

Beyer’s attorney denied that his client abused her stepson, saying his injuries were caused by poor hygiene.