The judge painted a horrifying picture of what happened during those three days.
TRENTON - Earlier this year, a jury found Don Finney not guilty of seven criminal counts related to what officials say was a repeated, three-day series of assaults on his family.
The jury did convict him of seven less-serious counts, including criminal restraint, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and child endangerment.
On Friday, a judge sent Finney to prison for more than three decades, saying the 55-year-old's demeanor throughout his trial and proceedings showed he felt he was immune to society's laws and never showed any remorse for his actions.
The official sentence was 33 years.
Among the original 14 charges against Finney were kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault and false imprisonment, which a jury found him not guilty of in February.
The charges stem from an incident in 2012 when prosecutors and the judge said that Finney locked three of four children -- all 8-years-old or younger -- living with him and his then wife in a bedroom and beat and choked their mother for three days, stopping only when he was physically exhausted from the assault.
Man cleared of kidnapping, rape charges
Mercer County Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez painted a horrifying picture of what happened during those three days.
He said that the events were sent in motion when Finney was disciplining his wife's 3-year-old child with a belt. When the mother told him stop and said that she would divorce him or call the police Finney turned his rage toward her.
After choking his wife for 'about a minute' he lifted her off the ground and threw her to the floor where strangled her for another minute or so. Finney then locked his wife's eldest three children -- 8, 6, and 3-years-old -- in their bedroom.
He then ripped their shared 1-year-old child from his wife's arms, threw the child onto the bed forcefully enough to make the child fall to the floor and then placed the child back on the bed where he proceeded to assault his wife and threaten to kill her.
The abuse continued for three days, the judge said Friday, recounting the case.
Finney restrained his wife in their bedroom and assaulted her so violently that at one point she urinated herself out of fear.
From behind their locked bedroom door, the children could hear the events unfolding.
Wife testifies she was beaten, held captive
Detectives arrived on the third day, arresting Finney and bringing the ordeal to a conclusion.
Finney's former wife did not show up to the sentencing but asked the prosecutor to read from the statement she made after the 2012 arrest. In the statement she said she could barely sleep and feared that after Finney's release he would try to kill her and her children.
When offered the chance to speak on his own behalf Finney said, "I'm sorry."
After merging two of the charges against Finney, the judge issued a sentence one year longer than what prosecutors recommended explaining that he believed Finney had a likelihood to re-offend and was unwilling to lead a productive life.
He also expressed concern that the full psychological impact the events may have on the children cannot be fully know at this time and may not manifest for many years.
Assistant Mercer County Prosecutor Michael Mennuti handled the prosecution.
Greg Wright may be reached at gwright@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregTheWright. Find NJ.com on Facebook.