A Scotts Bluff County District Court jury has found a Scottsbluff couple guilty of child abuse involving their son, but on a lesser charge than sought by prosecutors.

The jurors used the option of finding Carlos and Jennifer Herrera guilty of simple felony child abuse instead of the more serious child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. That means the couple faces a maximum of 5 years in prison instead of 50 years.

The jury received the case late Friday afternoon after a week of testimony, and deliberated about 2 hours before going home for the night. They returned for just under another two hours of deliberation Saturday morning before returning the guilty verdict.

The Herreras showed little emotion after the verdict was ready, but female family members were crying in the first row of the gallery. The couple’s two attorneys had no comment and prosecutor Tiffany Wasserburger said little other than to thank the jury for its time.

Wasserburger had argued in the case that the Herrera’s had physically abused and neglected their son from shortly after his birth until October 2011 when he was 5, the couple was arrested, and the boy and his sister were taken into state care.

The Herreras steadfastly denied ever abusing their son, and both took the stand to directly plea their case. The defense portrayed it as a child abuse system run amok and “ordinary people getting steamrolled.”