The trial for a second suspect accused of intentionally scalding two children in a bathtub in 2015 ended before it began Monday after the suspect pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated child abuse.

Opening statements were set to begin in the trial of 33-year-old Derrick Lynn Defoe, but he decided to plead just before opening statements.

Following his guilty plea, Judge Chadwick Wise sentenced Defoe to two consecutive 20-year terms for a total of 40 years. It was the same sentence handed down to Defoe’s girlfriend, Amanda Reyer, who was found guilty in November of two counts of aggravated child abuse.

Reyer testified at her trial she agreed to “dip” her two children in the hot bath because she was “trying to appease” Defoe by using an alternate punishment after her children — a 5-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl — were caught messing up the bed. She said she feared whatever punishment he would come up with, so she tried to recreate something she’d seen on television, intending only to turn the children’s skin pink.

Investigators found the water heater was set at 151 degrees on the night of the incident, hot enough to cause severe burns on both of the children.