A father convicted of a felony charge for forcibly dragging his 13-year-old daughter out of the West Side Middle School in Groton in September 2015 received a fully suspended prison term with three years of probation at his sentencing Tuesday in New London Superior Court.

Mark N. Thornton, 36, of Mashantucket had represented himself at his trial in September 2016, during which both he and his daughter, who is now in care of the state Department of Children and Families, testified along with school staff who witnessed the incident. A six-member jury found him guilty of risk of injury to a minor.

At the trial, Thornton had testified that he was awarded custody of the teen just a month before the Groton incident and that she kept running away from home and would not listen to him. Thornton said he arranged to have her evaluated at Natchaug Hospital, but that she resisted when he went to take her from school to an intake appointment. He said she was yelling profanities, kicking him and trying to bite him in the face.

Witnesses said he dragged her by the wrists and ankles from outside of her classroom into the school's main office and that she suffered bruises and rug burns. School staff issued a "code yellow" lockdown and called police and the DCF after the incident.

In opting for a trial, Thornton turned down several plea offers from prosecutor Sarah E. Steere, including her final offer to not prosecute the case if Thornton attended counseling. He also was offered the opportunity to resolve the case by pleading guilty to creating a public disturbance, an infraction.

Eight people attended the sentencing, including Thornton's mother and a coworker, who both spoke on his behalf. Thornton, who has an master's degree in business administration, works as an information technology manager for the Mashantucket Pequots and said he would continue to appeal his conviction because it threatens his livelihood.

Thornton contended he could have handled the situation differently but that he was desperately trying to get help for his daughter.

But in her sentencing remarks, Steere said Thornton had a history of prior arrests for domestic violence and in 2011 had been charged in Rhode Island with repeatedly striking the same victim with a belt. According to a news report of the incident, he also was accused of stuffing a sock in the girl's mouth so that she could not scream for help. Though that case was resolved during the pretrial stage, Steere said the DCF substantiated an allegation of abuse and Thornton's name was added to DCF's central registry of child abusers.

"What's concerning to the state is that the defendant does not understand the limits as to what a parent can do to a child," Steere told the court Tuesday. "Beating a child with a belt or dragging her out of school is not discipline. It's child abuse."

Tuesday's sentencing hearing lasted for several hours as Thornton argued his conviction was unconstitutional on several fronts. 

He also contended that trial Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed did not have authority to sentence him and could not be fair and impartial in light of the appeals he had filed. He also argued that his prosecution in the state court was unconstitutional, since there had never been a grand jury indictment in the case.  Grand juries, often used in federal cases, are rare in state courts. Thornton said that the federal law supersedes state law.

"This whole case is against the law," he said. "What's been happening to me for the past couple years is illegal and I demand that it stop."

In one motion to dismiss the jury verdict, Thornton reported that representatives of the State of Connecticut also had to use force with his daughter before and after the incident at the school. The judge said she would take that into consideration when deciding a sentence, but incidents that occurred before and after the September 2015 incident were not relevant to the verdict.

Jongbloed stepped down from the bench briefly while Judge Hillary B. Strackbein, administrative judge for the New London Judicial Distirct, conducted a brief hearing and ruled that Jongbloed could be fair and impartial and that the sentencing would go forward. Judge Jongbloed then denied all of Thornton's motions, saying she appreciates his position and would issue a written memorandum of each decision.

Jongbloed ordered that Thornton undergo a mental health evaluation and treatment if deemed necessary. She issued a standing criminal protective order involving the daughter and ordered Thornton to obey all family court and DCF orders. She fined him $1,500 and imposed $220 in court costs and fees.

k.florin@theday.com