Cole County Presiding Circuit Judge Pat Joyce sentenced Shelley Richter on Tuesday afternoon to five years in prison for her December conviction of endangering the welfare of a child.
But she won't go to prison right away.
Richter, now 44, was released from custody after posting a $10,000 appeals bond while her attorney, Shane Farrow, appeals her conviction and sentence to the Missouri appeals court.
A babysitter with an in-home day care business in Taos, Richter was charged after an Aug. 19, 2010, incident where Lane Schaefer, then 7 months old, suffered severe head injuries.
Richter always has told authorities she dropped the boy as she fell, after tripping over a toddler who had walked behind her.
But prosecutors said she shook Lane and hit his head.
The boy suffered severe brain injuries and is legally blind.
Prosecutors originally charged Richter with child abuse and child endangerment, both felonies. But a six-man, six-woman Cole County jury deliberated just over 5½ hours in March 2013 before convicting her only of the child endangerment charge.
Joyce ordered a second trial because a November 2010 sheriff's report of a new hotline call investigation involving the boy - three months after the initial incident - never was provided to the prosecution or defense before the 2013 trial.
Last December, an eight-man, four-woman jury deliberated for nearly 8½ hours before returning that second guilty verdict.
Lane's parents and both grandmothers gave victim impact statements before Tuesday afternoon's sentencing, asking Joyce to impose the maximum sentence.
After bringing Lane, now 5, into the courtroom for a minute or two, his mother, Jessica Schaefer, told Joyce the incident changed their lives "forever."
Unlike other families that establish a regular routine, she said, "I don't know if Lane's going to have a good day or a bad day.
"Every step of our day has to be thought out or planned."
Jessica and her mother spend three days each week in Kansas City, so Lane can attend special classes to help him learn skills - but, his father, Cole Schaefer, told Joyce: "Lane will never live an independent life."
Both parents and grandmothers noted Jessica, who had been a full time operating room nurse at Capital Region Medical Center, had to quit her job to spend every day as her son's caregiver.
If Lane wakes up in the middle of the night, Jessica said she gets angry "when I think about Shelley sleeping comfortably."
Cole recalled how excited he was on Jan. 10, 2010, crying "tears of joy because my son was born."
But his dreams were demolished when Lane was injured, he said.
"I'm here to convey to the court how the actions of Shelley Richter have forever impacted his life," Cole said. "Lane can basically do nothing similar to what a normal 5-year-old can do."
With Lane's "severe social anxiety," Cole said, "he does not function well in public, simple things like errands don't go well. Going out to eat as a family is nearly impossible."
Even family gatherings likely will be disrupted, Cole added.
Cole's mother, Margaret Schaefer, asked the judge and others in the courtroom to close their eyes and think of all the things they appreciate - including Santa Claus, children playing in the snow, Easter eggs, flying kites, playing ball, "running, jumping and climbing."
"We can visualize these things," she said. "Lane never will."
She noted her faith teaches her to forgive, then told Richter: "We could have started this forgiving process if you had just told the truth" about what happened that day.
Margaret added: "Whatever sentence you are given today (will be) nothing compared to the final Judgment Day, (because) you hurt God's child."
Diane Braun, Jessica's mother, told Joyce she remained angry "that anyone could shake and severely injure a child - and that it has taken us 4½ years to get to this point."
Like the other family members, Braun asked Joyce to impose the maximum sentence.
"Anything less is an insult to Lane and his family," she said.
Prosecutor Mark Richardson also asked for the maximum sentence. "In cases like this, a prison sentence helps society protect those in society - infants - who cannot ever protect themselves," he told reporters.
But Farrow argued Richter had no previous criminal history and asked for probation.
Farrow declined to comment after the hearing.