Man who tried to rip girlfriend's tongue out during horrific attack is jailed
Victim Carleigh Hager suffered a bleed on the brain and bite marks all over her body after being beaten by Ryan Cameron.
An Indiana man who brutally assaulted his girlfriend and tried to rip out her tongue has been jailed for six years.
Ryan Cameron, 27, launched into a frenzied attack on his then-partner Carleigh Hager at their home in south Indianapolis in October of last year.
Her injuries included bleeding on her brain, bite marks across her body and a partially ripped tongue. The tip of her ear was also bitten off.
Cameron was arrested and pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in August.
He received an 11-year sentence on Wednesday (25 October), with six years to be spent in the Indiana Department of Correction, the Indianapolis Star reported.
The incident came to light after police responded to reports of a domestic dispute at the pair's property in Hanover Drive just after midnight on 22 October, 2016.
Inside the home they found Cameron's then-girlfriend covered in blood and unable to speak clearly.
She was taken to hospital with bleeding inside her skull, a partially ripped tongue, a bitten-off ear tip and bite marks across her chest, back, arms and face.
"He tried to rip my tongue out with his bare fingers... and he succeeded halfway,' Hager, 26, told CBS News after the attack.
She added: "He tried to suffocate me with my own blood ... He put his hand right here and plugged my nose and I couldn't breathe."
She told police that Cameron had started shouting at her after they had returned home from a wedding with friends.
He locked the friends out of the house and then began repeatedly punching her and putting his hands over her mouth. He eventually reached into her mouth and began pulling at her tongue.
She lost consciousness and later awoke to find a female police officer standing over her.
Graphic images posted on a GoFundMe page to raise money for Hager's medical bills showed her bruised and with a chunk of flesh missing above her left eye.
Hager told the court during sentencing that Cameron was a master manipulator. "He used and abused me and all I did was try to love him," she said.
Experts for the defense told the court they believed Cameron blacked out on the night he attacked Hager because he had too much to drink. He couldn't remember his actions, they added.
