A Salamanca man accused of killing a toddler has accepted a plea deal that will land him in prison for at least 20 years. Prosecutors say Justin Crouse, 30, beat his girlfriend's 3-year-old son to death in March at a home on the Cattauraugus Indian Reservation. They says Crouse fatally struck Gage Seneca on the head in the early morning of March 5 when he found the child out of his bed. The boy's mother found him unresponsive in his bed later that morning.
An autopsy revealed Seneca died from blunt force trauma.
Crouse pleaded to second-degree manslaughter Friday morning. He will be sentenced next month.
