Morris County couple, convicted of child abuse, sentenced for fourth time
A Morris County couple convicted of multiple abuses against their adopted children were sentenced for the fourth time on Monday. The children were all under 4 years old and developmentally delayed and had broken bones, were denied medical attention, didn’t receive water and were force-fed hot sauce, according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.
Carolyn Jackson, 46, was sentenced to 140 months in prison and her husband, John E. Jackson, 48, formerly a major in the Army at the Picatinny Arsenal Installation, was sentenced to 108 months in prison.
“Carolyn Jackson and John Jackson inflicted cruel and devastating abuse on three child victims over five years,” Sellinger said in a statement. “The defendants’ systematic abuse was horrifying, and included physical assaults, withholding of food, water, and medical care, and forcing them to ingest hot sauce, among other inhumane treatment. Their victims were innocent and vulnerable children placed in their care, but who were treated with unimaginable cruelty.
"For over a decade, this office has pursued justice for these victims whose childhoods and lives were irretrievably damaged by the defendants’ abuse. The prison sentences imposed today hold Carolyn Jackson and John Jackson accountable for their horrific crimes, and bring a measure of justice for their victims.”
After a four-month trial in federal court in Newark in July 2015, they were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child; Carolyn Jackson was found guilty of 11 substantive counts of endangering the welfare of a child and John Jackson was found guilty of nine substantive counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Carolyn received a sentence of 24 months in prison and John received probation and 400 hours of community service initially but the government appealed, and in July 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals found several errors in the sentencing process. They were resentenced in April 2018, at which time Carolyn Jackson received a sentence of 40 months in prison, with credit for time served, and John Jackson received the same probationary sentence. The government appealed again and it was remanded for another resentencing after finding errors again.
During the third sentencing hearing, Carolyn Jackson received a time-served sentence with an additional year of supervised release. John Jackson received an 18-month term of home confinement. There was another appeal and in April of this year it was reassigned to U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton, who imposed the sentences on Monday.
Since the crimes occurred at Picatinny, it is considered a federal case. John Jackson was discharged from the Army in May 2015.
Documents and evidence at the trial said that from August 2005 until April 23, 2010, Carolyn and John Jackson conspired to engage in a constant course of neglect and cruelty toward three children they fostered and then adopted. They also told their biological children not to report the physical assaults to others, saying that the punishments and disciplinary techniques were justified, as they were “training” the adopted children how to behave.
One of their biological children had revealed the abuse and was beaten 30 times with a belt. The adopted children sustained fractured bones and didn’t get prompt medical attention for their injuries, leading to the partial amputation of one child’s finger and the near-death of another, documents showed.
The Jacksons also withheld sufficient nourishment and food from their adopted children; withheld adequate water from two of their children and, at times, prohibited them from drinking water altogether; forced two of the children to consume foods intended to cause them pain and suffering, such as red pepper flakes and hot sauce, and caused one child to ingest excessive sodium or sodium-laden substances while being deprived of water, leading to a life-threatening condition on two separate occasions in two states. The Jacksons even punished one adopted child, who had to resort to sneaking food and drinking from the toilet, by hitting the child, making the child ingest hot sauce, and forcing the child to eat a raw onion like an apple, records showed.
In addition to the prison terms, Wigenton sentenced each of the defendants to three years of supervised release.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Morris County NJ couple sentenced again for child abuse
