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Women Get 15 Years In Prison For Torturing 7-Year-Old

POSTED: Monday, September 15, 2008
UPDATED: 11:18 pm EDT September 15, 2008

After pleading no contest to child abuse charges on Monday two Baker County women were sentenced to prison for 15 years.

Investigators said Suzette Stevenson and her partner, Jamie Martin, tortured a 7-year-old boy for whom they were supposed to be caring, causing the child to be permanently disfigured.

Last November, Stevenson, the boy's guardian, and Martin were arrested on aggravated child abuse and child neglect charges after the child was found drugged in an Orlando parking lot wandering around and begging for food.

The boy told authorities he had been kicked in the stomach on numerous occasions, claiming Stevenson forced him to drink shampoo and that Martin would bend his toes until they would break as a form of punishment.

On Monday, both women entered no contest pleas on charges of aggravated child abuse and child neglect.

Faced with the possibility of his daughter facing as many has 50 years in prison for the charges, Martin's father pleaded for the judge to have mercy.

"She's not a -- she's not a bad person. She's always been good to young'ns. I don’t what happened," Martin's father said in court.

After the judge asked Stevenson several times whether she was sure she wanted to enter a plea of no contest against the advice of her attorney, she told the judge she didn’t know and started crying.

End the end, Stevenson stuck to her plea, and judge found both women guilty of crimes.

Both women were sentenced to spend 15 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation. The judge also ruled that both women are never allowed to go near children ever again.

The young victim remains in the care of the Department of Children.

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