An Albany couple were sentenced Friday to six months in jail in the death of their 19-year-old autistic son.

Agnes and Nicolaas DeGroot were sentenced separately for the crime of criminally negligent homicide.

Their son, Christopher, died May 19, 2006 as a result of burns sustained during an apartment fire five days earlier.

The teenager was lifeflighted to a hospital in Portland with burns covering 80 percent of his body.

The parents were not at home at the time of the fire.

Christopher had been known to be a "runner," and as a regular precaution doors were locked and windows were screwed shut to prevent him from leaving the home and bolting outside and into traffic.

The parents had established a routine of leaving Christopher alone for a few hours at a time when they left to care for their horses, which are boarded near Tangent.

It is unknown how the fire started, though investigators determined its point of origin was the middle of the living room floor and faulty wiring was not to blame, said Dawn Hietala, the lead Albany Police Department detective on the case.

The DeGroots were originally charged with intentional murder in May 2006.

They entered into a plea agreement to the charges of criminal negligent homicide in November, eliminating a mandatory minimum sentence under Measure 11.

During the sentencing Friday, a longtime family friend as well as Agnes' daughter, Vicki Douglas, testified to her mother and stepfather's caring nature toward Christopher.

Douglas said her mother was "attentive to her brother's needs." Then she burst into tears while trying to describe the special bond between Christopher and his father.

Judge John McCormick agreed with prosecutor Michael Wynhausen that Christopher suffered harm greater than is typical in most criminal negligence cases.

"We know that he suffered a lot," McCormick said. "Should the court take that into consideration? Yes."

The judge said he did not believe the DeGroots were callous toward their son. He said he would not take into consideration their lack of visible emotion after the fire, which police and medical staff had noted.

Defense attorneys Laura Fine, representing Nicolaas DeGroot, and Arnold Poole, representing Agnes DeGroot, asked that the couple be allowed to report to jail at 10 a.m. Monday morning. The judge allowed it.