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Kyle Seitz, 37, was sentenced one year in prison, suspended forthwith, with a two-year conditional discharge in state Superior Court in Danbury. He had faced up to a year in prison after pleading guilty March 10 to criminally negligent homicide.
Superior Court Judge Kevin Russo also ordered Seitz to "seek and maintain and continue with treatment."
He did not sentence Seitz to probation, Russo said, because that would have interfered or prohibited his ability to relocate to the West with his family.
Russo said he understands, based on testimony of wife and two daughters, that "Colorado has become a very therapeutic place for you, and I would not want to interfere with that."
Seitz had made his guilty plea under the Alford Doctrine, meaning that he did not admit guilt but acknowledged that the prosecution had enough evidence to convict him at trial.
Benjamin Seitz died July 7 after his father forgot to drop him at his day care center and left him for hours in the car on a hot day. Seitz worked at Owl Computing Technologies in town and returned to his car at least twice during the workday.
Kyle Seitz discovered his son’s body after driving to the day care at the end of the work day and learning that his son had never been dropped off that day. He rushed Benjamin, who was still in his car seat, to Danbury Hospital, where the boy was pronounced dead.
An autopsy found that Benjamin died of hyperthermia caused by environmental exposure. His death was ruled a homicide in August.
Kyle Seitz was charged with negligent homicide in November and initially pleaded not guilty.
Benjamin’s mother Lindsey Rogers-Seitz said she forgave her husband, and started a crusade for car safety regulations and laws to prevent similar incidents.
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