Brian Miller and Charity Miller, the Dexter parents who chained their 5-year-old son to a bed, will keep their parental rights.

Judge Fred Wellmann ruled Thursday afternoon that “all of the statutory requirements to terminate (the Millers) parental rights … have not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

The boys, ages 5 and 8, are still in protective custody, and it is unlikely they will return to their parents immediately, according to the Mower County Attorney’s Office.

The decision comes more than a month after a four-day trial in Mower County District Court to determine whether the couple could retain their parental rights.

The Millers are accused of chaining one of their sons to his crib from bedtime until morning every night. They reportedly made their two sons stay in their bedrooms most of the time and weren’t providing sufficient food or bathroom access for the boys. The 5-year-old weighed less than 30 pounds when he and his brother were placed with a foster family in April.

The ruling states that both Brian and Charity have “substantially, continuously and repeatedly refused or neglected to comply with the duties imposed under (them) by the parent-child relationship …” and are “palpably unfit” to be parents. The ruling also states the Millers’ sons have experienced “egregious harm,” and returning to their parents would result in further physical or emotional harm.

However, because the children are members of the Cherokee Tribe, the federal Indian Welfare Act applies to the case. Under Indian Child Welfare Act, the petitioner, Mower County Human Services, must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they made an active effort to reunify the family.

“They have failed to meet this burden of proof,” the ruling states. “Thus, the Millers’ parental rights cannot be terminated, although this court has found that they failed to meet their parental duties to (their sons), are palpably unfit to parent the children, and have caused the children egregious emotional harm …”

The couple has yet to be sentenced on the criminal side of the case. Their sentencing is scheduled for today at 9 a.m., when Judge Donald Rysavy will decide their fate on one count each of gross misdemeanor false imprisonment and one count each of malicious punishment. Both Brian and Charity could receive up to two years in jail for the charges.

Five other charges — including malicious punishment, false imprisonment, endangerment and two counts of neglect — were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.