Mark Sprague

Born To Suffer

22-month-old Christopher Sprague is buried under a small tree in Greenwood Cemetery. A flat grave marker is the only thing that reminds people he existed on this earth. During his short life, Christopher never knew the comforts of a warm clean bed, nor the delight a nutritious meal made with love. He had no one to console him in the middle of the night when awakened by a bad dream. Instead, he endured complete neglect and abuse that would eventually lead to his death.

A House Is Not A Home

Christopher was born January 8, 1993, to Mark and Della Sprague. Butler County Ohio Children’s Services knew the family well by that time due to the poor treatment of Christopher’s three-year-old brother.

Christopher Sprague suffered from the day he was born. His extended family described the family residence as “atrocious” and a “filthy, roach-infested mess.” One family member stated, “At times there was no food. We’d go in (to visit) and there would be no milk, no diapers. The house was bug-infested, and the sanitary conditions were unbelievable.” Other family members claimed, “They would let the children outside in cold weather with no clothes“, and “The only toys they had were the ones family members gave them at Christmas. It’s a shame the baby had to suffer the way he did for his whole life.”

Della and Mark Sprague’s severe neglect led to Christopher’s lack of adequate mental capacity for his age. He did not possess the appropriate fine motor skills and, at the age of 22-months, he was still learning to crawl and could not yet speak.

Several complaints were filed with the Butler County Children Services Agency reporting the squalid living conditions that young Christopher and his older brother were subject to daily; however, nothing was done. The Spragues participated in parenting classes because they were forced to, but nothing changed for Christopher and his brother and they continued to suffer on a daily basis. In 1994, the decision to leave Christopher in the custody of Della and Mark Sprague would cost him his life.

Murder Leads To A Shocking Discovery

In the early morning hours on Monday November 14, 1994, emergency medical personnel responded to a 911 call from the home of a close personal friend of Della Sprague. Della was visiting the friend while Mark Sprague was out of town. When medical personnel arrived, Christopher was barely breathing. He was rushed to Mercy Hospital of Hamilton, where he would die a short time later.

Christopher’s mother insisted that trauma inflicted on Christopher was a result of her ill attempt to stop him from coughing as he often suffered from coughing spells. Authorities believed the death was unintentional and charged Della Sprague with involuntary manslaughter. An autopsy was performed on November 19 and it would reveal something much worse.Butler County Coroner Richard Burkhardt determined Christopher did not die from a blow to the back. He stated Christopher sustained an injury causing an artery near his heart to rip open and bleed out internally. This type of injury is caused by hyperextension of the spine, more commonly occurring in children as a result of traumatic neck injury due to a fall. The autopsy also revealed that Christopher had been sexually assaulted on numerous occasions.

Father Admits To Raping His Son

Police began questioning Mark Sprague. Sprague began crying after a lie detector test and admitted to Detective Frank Smith that he was “sick and needed help.” When Detective Smith asked Mark Sprague why, he said that he had sexually abused Christopher. Mark Sprague admitted to sexually assaulting Christopher on three separate occasions in the month before Christopher’s death. According to the Ohio Parole board records, Mark Sprague admitted to “putting his finger and his penis in his son’s rectum.” He was charged with two counts of rape and one count of felonious sexual penetration.

Two Trials Net Two Plea Deals

Mark Sprague went on trial first. Sprague’s lawyer attempted to get Mark Sprague’s taped confession thrown out of court, citing diminished mental capacity of his client and a coerced confession by law enforcement. The judge disagreed and ruled the evidence admissible. Facing almost certain conviction by a jury and 25 to 30 years in prison before parole eligibility, Sprague agreed to plead no-contest. Judge Michael Sage sentenced him to three life terms to be served concurrently (at the same time). As a result of the plea deal, Mark Sprague would become eligible for parole after 15 years. Sprague showed no visible emotion during his sentencing.

The no-contest plea meant Sprague did not admit guilt to the criminal charges. He neither disputed nor admitted to sexually assaulting his son. However, in 2000 we would finally learn exactly what Sprague did to Christopher when he was interviewed during an evaluation. Sprague claimed he was drinking that day, stating “Only thing I remember is I was just drinking a little bit, and the next thing I know I was sitting there doing it.” He said he thought about it for “maybe a couple minutes.” Sprague stated he was thinking about his wife who was not home at the time. He said, “I wasn’t thinking nothing toward the child. I was just feeling good. That’s all I was thinking about, getting off.”

Della Sprague was tried several months after Mark Sprague was convicted. She pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter before the third day of her trial. She was sentenced for 2-10 years and is now free.

Sexual Predator

Mark Sprague has been relatively well-behaved in prison, which is not uncommon for child molesters. That being said, his rehabilitation in questionable. Sprague took a victims awareness class in 1995; yet in 2004, a decade after he was convicted, parole board records state, “He claims he cannot remember the crime.” How can he successfully pass a victim awareness class without admitting to his crime?

The courts determined Sprague to be a sexual predator, meaning there is a high likelihood of him committing another sex crime against a child. A psychiatric report on Sprague states, “Therefore it is my opinion that, if Mr. Sprague were to find himself in a living situation where another infant or small child were available to meet his sexual needs, he would have a high likelihood of committing another sexually-oriented offense.”

No Parole

Mark Sprague is a sexual predator and a deviant. It gets no worse than a parent who will murder or sexually assault his or her own child. In addition, it is clear that if Sprague is released he is likely to commit the same, if not more egregious crimes. Based on the facts of this case, there is substantial reason to believe that Mark Sprague’s release into society would create undue risk to public safety, especially to young children.

Releasing Mark Sprague at any point would be a complete injustice to Christopher Sprague and demean Mark Sprague’s cruelty to him. Sprague was sentenced to THREE life sentences and thus he should be required to spend the remainder of his natural life in prison. To protect society and to further the interests of justice we urge the Ohio Parole Board to reverse Mark Sprague’s parole and keep him in prison until fulfills his ENTIRE life sentence.

Update: The Ohio Parole Board granted Mark Sprague parole on October 1, 2018. The Ohio Parole Board records state that Sprague has “community support.” Current Butler County Ohio Prosecutor Mike Gmoser states, “To say he has community support is little more than fiction masquerading as fact.” The Ohio Parole Board records also state the “community would benefit from a period of parole supervision.” Considering both the courts and a psychiatrist have stated Sprague is likely to commit another sex offense against a child, who will benefit from Sprague’s release is unknown. Thank you to everyone who submitted a petition and was a voice for Christopher Sprague.