A former Oregon middle school teacher and Army Reserve officer will spend more than five years behind bars after admitting he abused his infant twins, breaking multiple bones and, in one instance, shoving a rag into his daughter’s mouth so forcefully that she began bleeding and couldn’t feed properly, according to prosecutors.
Reece Sorenson, 29, of Salem, was sentenced Friday to five years and six months in prison after pleading guilty in July to five counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment, court records show.
The Marion County District Attorney’s Office said the charges grew out of “multiple events” that came to light before Sorenson’s arrest in August 2025.
“At that time, Salem police detectives were called to Salem Hospital where Sorenson and his wife had brought their six-week-old twin children to the emergency room because one of the infants was unable to suckle properly,” the DA’s office said in a statement. “While at the hospital, medical staff observed several concerning factors on both children.”
Doctors found that the first twin had four fractured ribs along with the mouth injury, prosecutors said. Her brother had broken collarbones, 12 fractured ribs, and bruising around his eyes — findings that medical staff described as “highly concerning for child physical abuse, especially in non-mobile children.”
Investigators couldn’t pin down exactly how many times each baby had been hurt, but the varying stages of healing on their injuries made clear that the abuse happened more than once.
“Sorenson later admitted to using aggressive force on multiple separate occasions on both babies, causing the infants’ significant injuries,” the DA’s office said, adding that he also acknowledged forcing a burp rag into one infant’s mouth to quiet her crying, which led to the injury that kept her from nursing normally.
According to Salem’s CBS affiliate KATU, police said Sorenson admitted to squeezing his son with his forearms and digging his knuckles into the baby’s stomach in an attempt to stop him from crying. He also told investigators he’d pushed the burp rag into his daughter’s mouth because her screaming had worn him down and he was, in his words, “at his wit’s end.”
Sorenson’s wife reportedly backed up the abuse allegations, telling police that he had been rough and aggressive with the twins and that she didn’t feel comfortable leaving them alone with him.
Medical staff also reported that both babies appeared “ravenous and starving” during feedings and showed signs of severe malnourishment. Nurses said the infants flinched whenever someone approached to feed them.
Sorenson was arrested and charged with several counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment for causing physical injury to a child. Prosecutors had pushed for a roughly 125-month sentence, though he faced a range of penalties from probation up to about 148 months in prison.
He resigned from his position teaching math at Parrish Middle School after his arrest and had served as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve.
