COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho – A Priest River man was sentenced to life in prison earlier this week after being convicted of terrible crimes against his own children.
Dana Andrew Furtney, 49, was found guilty on 14 different charges for the abuse of his kids.
He was convicted for various sex acts with the children, and on one occasion chained up his son to an outhouse for more than week during the winter and forced him to ingest human waste.
“As far as sex crimes, this is probably one of the most horrific ones I’ve worked,” Aaron Walker, a Bonner County Sheriff’s Office detective said. “He thought it was God’s will. And he was following orders from God, I believe.”
Court documents show Furtney told one of his daughters she was his “second wife” along with her other teenage sister.
When the boy misbehaved, Furtney ordered another child to put cinnamon in the child’s eyes. A family friend ultimately convinced Furtney’s wife and children to feel from the home, eventually settling in Ohio.
Court documents show Furtney also made one of his daughters drink his urine at one point, then later drink a cup of a cayenne tincture mixture, before she fell, screaming to the ground and fainted.
“When it first came to my desk, it was really hard to believe that this level of abuse could actually be happening,” Louis Marshall, the Bonner County Prosecutor said.
Marshall handled the case himself. He said it was not easy.
“It was very difficult for me,” Marshall said. “I do believe I, in fact, one time cried when I was home. It was tough coming into work.”
Furtney was eventually convicted and recently given a life sentence for his crimes.
Prosecutors said it is unlikely he can ever be rehabilitated.
“The amount of damage he did to his family was so great that I feel the only place appropriate for him is in the Idaho State Penitentiary,” Marshall said.
Furtney will likely be eligible for parole in 25 years.