Current:Home > MyDelaware judge cites ‘evil’ and ‘extreme cruelty’ in sentencing couple for torturing their sons-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Delaware judge cites ‘evil’ and ‘extreme cruelty’ in sentencing couple for torturing their sons
View Date:2024-12-23 21:01:11
DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware woman who was convicted of torturing her two stepsons with the knowledge and help of their father was sentenced Thursday to 106 years in prison by a judge who called the abuse “the most extensive and persistent evil” he has ever seen.
Mary Vinson, 46, pleaded guilty last year to 30 felony counts including kidnapping, child abuse, strangulation and reckless endangering. She had faced a minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum of 444 years.
“I didn’t want to hurt them,” Vinson said before sentencing, taking issue with the litany of horrors outlined by prosecutor Erik Towne and with the state’s suggestion that she was “a monster.”
“It didn’t start out that way,” she said. “I loved those boys like they were my own.”
The boys’ father, Charles Vinson, 37, was also sentenced Thursday, to 49 years. He pleaded guilty to 12 felony counts and had faced a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 158 years.
Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clarke rejected defense requests to impose the minimum sentences, citing among other things the extreme cruelty of the crimes.
Video from surveillance cameras that monitored the large closet where the boys were kept naked and starving in horrific conditions did not tell the entire story of their suffering, the judge said.
“It will be impossible for them to forget the evil done to them,” said Clarke, who refused a prosecution request to show some of the video excerpts in court. “They will carry this with them for the rest of their lives.”
Defense attorney John Malik said Charles Vinson did not like conflict and felt manipulated by his wife: “He was in the middle between his wife and his kids, and admits that he failed his sons.”
The judge noted that, while Charles Vinson was not the primary offender, he enabled the abuse, facilitated it and sometimes participated.
Charle Vinson said he took full responsibility for his actions and accepted the consequences of his “poor decisions” regarding his sons.
“I failed them, and I feel ashamed of myself to be called a father,” Vinson said.
According to prosecutors, the boys were abused over a period of 20 months starting in early 2020. One was 9 to 10 years old at the time, while the other was abused between the ages of 11 and 13.
Both were hospitalized several times for severe malnutrition, with one requiring a hospital stay of almost a month. The Division of Family Services finally took custody of the boys in October 2021.
Authorities said the abuse included making the boys stand motionless for long periods of time, withholding food and water, force-feeding, and beating and strangling them. Prosecutor Kristin Dewalt said they were forced to wash themselves with the same water used to clean up their urine and feces.
“The torture Mrs. Vinson inflicted on these children is almost indescribable,” Towne said.
Mark Hudson, representing the Office of the Child Advocate, said the boys are in foster care and doing markedly better, but they are still dealing with issues. Attempts at placing them with permanent families have proven unsuccessful, he said, with potential adopting parents declining to move forward after learning of the boys’ history.
veryGood! (5)
Related
- Kate Spade Outlet’s Early Black Friday Sale – Get a $259 Bag for $59 & More Epic Deals Starting at $25
- For the first time, Ukraine has used US-provided long-range ATACMS missiles against Russian forces
- Choice Hotels offers nearly $8 billion for larger rival Wyndham Hotels & Resorts as travel booms
- Republicans in Nevada are split in dueling contest over 2024 presidential nomination
- The Army’s answer to a lack of recruits is a prep course to boost low scores. It’s working
- Dolly Parton will be Dallas Cowboys' Thanksgiving Day halftime performer
- Rite Aid files for bankruptcy amid opioid-related lawsuits and falling sales
- Girl Scout troop treasurer arrested for stealing over $12,000: Police
- Angels sign Travis d'Arnaud: Former All-Star catcher gets multiyear contract in LA
- Martin Scorsese is still curious — and still awed by the possibilities of cinema
Ranking
- Chris Wallace will leave CNN 3 years after defecting from 'Fox News Sunday'
- Horoscopes Today, October 16, 2023
- IOC president Thomas Bach has done enough damage. Don't give him time to do more.
- UN refugee chief says Rohingya who fled Myanmar must not be forgotten during other world crises
- What’s the secret to growing strong, healthy nails?
- 2 people accused of helping Holyoke shooting suspect arrested as mother whose baby died recovers
- Biden consults with world leaders, top advisers with Middle East on edge over Israel-Hamas war
- Antonio Brown arrested in Florida over unpaid child support allegations
Recommendation
-
5-year-old boy who went missing while parent was napping is found dead near Oregon home, officials say
-
Poland’s voters reject their right-wing government, but many challenges lie ahead
-
Bills RB Damien Harris released from hospital after neck injury, per report
-
Putin meets Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán in first meeting with EU leader since invasion of Ukraine
-
'Yellowstone' premiere: Record ratings, Rip's ride and Billy Klapper's tribute
-
Jail staffer warned Cavalcante was ‘planning an escape’ a month before busting out
-
Poland’s voters reject their right-wing government, but many challenges lie ahead
-
Travis Kelce Has a Home Run Night Out With Brother Jason Kelce at Philadelphia Phillies Game