Two sentenced in what police say was "horrific case of child abuse"
Two sentenced in what police say was "horrific case of child abuse"
Alert security guards who found a dazed and abused child wandering the streets last fall made the first step in ending what authorities call years of systematic abuse and torture. The last step for the abusers came today when a Baker County court found them guilty and sentenced Jamie Martin and Suzette Stevenson to 15 years in prison.
Martin and girlfriend Suzette Stevenson were first arrested in November 2007 after the boy, then seven-year-old, was found wandering the streets in Osceola County with injuries consistent with severe child abuse. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition with severe malnourishment, internal injuries, a severely injured foot, and numerous cuts, bruises, and abrasions all over his body. The boy had other injuries including ligature marks on his wrists and cigarette burns inside his ears.
Reports indicate Stevenson and Martin went to the area for a time share promotion and took the boy with them. They doped him up with adult sleeping pills and left him in the car while they attended the presentations. The child woke up enough to leave the car and was found by security guards who alerted police.
Osceola County notified the Baker County Sheriff’s Office who arrested Stevenson and Martin on November 9, 2007.
During interviews with BCSO investigators, both women blamed the other for the abuse. Detailed reports of the abuse say they would tie the boy by his wrists to light fixtures on the wall to force him to stand up for several hours each time. Food was withheld from the boy and he was forced to drink shampoo as punishment. They would bend his toes back until they heard his toes crack and he was kept out of school for fear teachers would see the marks and injuries on the victim’s body.
It was first believed the boy was Stevenson’s son, however, after further investigation the child is no relation to either suspect. Investigators first thought the child may have been kidnaped from his parents in California, however, they now it was more of an abduction since no one knew where the child was taken.
When the boy’s mother and father were jailed in California, the father turned the baby over to an aunt who had some type of relationship with Stevenson. According to Baker County Sheriff Joey Dobson, the aunt passed away and Stevenson bought a fake birth certificate claiming the child was hers. She then moved to Florida where she began a relationship with Martin after meeting her online.
"This is one of the most horrific cases of long term abuse I’ve seen," said Sheriff Dobson.
Martin and Stevenson both pled out and accepted a guilty plea. They will serve the 15 years in prison with another 10 years supervised probation. They must receive counseling and have no further contact with children.
