An Ohio couple who tortured their five adopted sons in “dungeon”-like conditions — depriving them of food and water among other abuses – were given lighter sentences after taking a plea deal.
Matthew Edmonson, 50, pleaded guilty last Friday to five counts of child endangering and her husband, Charles Edmonson, 64, pleaded guilty to kidnapping, felonious assault and three counts of child endangering, The Cincinnati Enquirer and local outlet WLWT reported, per people.com.
For the abuse against their five boys, including four with special needs, Matthew was given a minimum of 13 years in prison while Charles received a minimum of 15 years behind bars, per the Enquirer.
Before the deal was struck, the Clermont County Prosecutor’s Office previously stated that the Edmonsons — who were formally accused of child abuse in June following an investigation — faced potential sentences totalling more than 200 years, the outlet reported.
As part of the new agreement, prosecutors moved to dismiss 44 counts against Matthew and 48 counts against Charles, as well as the possibility of him receiving a life sentence.
They were first indicted on five counts each of child endangerment in June. Additional indictments were added in July and August after more evidence of “severe mental and physical abuse” was uncovered, including videos, the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said at the time.
Clermont County prosecuting attorney Mark J. Tekulve previously said this investigation followed a separate one into Charles which led to him being sentenced to three years in prison for sexually assaulting another one of his adopted sons. Authorities said the victim was an adult at the time but was groomed from childhood, per several reports.
That investigation led to the discovery of footage of the parents treating their five young sons — biological brothers whom they fostered before formally adopting — “worse than prisoners of war,” WCPO and WLWT reported.
“The videos of these undernourished and naked children huddled up in a locked room in the basement, on the stone-cold basement floor like a pile of puppies trying to stay together to keep warm, are nothing short of gut-wrenching,” Tekulve said in a statement in June.
“These two are unfit to be parents, and I am grateful to those who have worked tirelessly to make sure they will not be,” he continued. “Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time and will not be the last time that my office has had to seek indictment for people like this who pretend to be ‘parents.’”
Prosecutors said that the kids had previously been in and out of the hospital for bruising, bleach burns and potential internal bleeding, among other reasons, all of which their parents were able to explain away, WLWT reported. These hospital visits stemmed from the abuse and torture they suffered, which prosecutors outlined in court.
Among the reported “punishment” that the couple would inflict on the boys were placing them in a basement room with a metal bed, often without a mattress or blanket, depriving them of clothes and making them sleep naked on the floor. The adoptive parents would also withhold food and water, abuse evidenced by footage of one of the children scavenging something to eat from the trash.
Uncovered footage also shows one of their kids tied to a basement bed, the outlet added. Prosecutors also said that one of the couple’s sons previously informed officials at his school that urine and feces had been rubbed in his eye as punishment.
At the time of their adoption, two of the brothers were ages 13 and 11, while a set of triplets was 8. They were removed from the Edmonsons’ home amid the investigation into their parents in February.
The kids are now in “new living situations where they are thriving,” Tekulve said in a statement after the couple’s sentencing, WLWT reported.