A New Hampshire woman has been sentenced to nine to 30 years after pleading guilty in the torture of her 18-year-old son.
Christine Gelineau, a 53-year-old from Concord, reached an agreement with prosecutors Thursday, pleading guilty to first-degree assault and witness tampering, CBS Connecticut reported.
The teen, who is now 19, has two other alleged abusers he has yet to face. In court, he spoke to his now "ex-mother."
"Dear ex-Mother,” he began, reading from a statement as his abuser sat sobbing nearby in an orange prison jumpsuit, the Concord Monitor reported. “What you did to me is unforgivable. You beat me, starved me, almost chopped my penis off, threw my clothes away, wouldn’t let me bathe. You almost killed me by having me take three [antidepressants] and two muscle-relaxers."
He continued:
“Now that I know you’re a complete criminal and only wanted me dead so you could go back to your old life....You won’t be able to attend my graduation or see me go on to college, so I wish you goodbye. I hope you realize you have lost everything you had.”
Assistant county prosecutor George Waldron said the man suffered permanent nerve damage in his penis when Gelineau burned it with a lighter in April.
“What she did alone was one of the most horrible things I’ve seen,” Waldron said after the hearing.
Daniel Tyler Cantrell, 20, and the victim's 29-year-old cousin, Amy Nason, are also charged with torturing the man.
Among the beatings and burning, the victim was also pressured to drink urine, eat worms, dish soap, and feces, according to court records. Cantrell is also accused of breaking the man's ankle and putting a lit cigarette out on his neck.
Authorities were first alerted to the abuse in April when a 12-year-old girl, staying with the daughter of Nason, alerted officials at the Division of Children, Youth and Families after seeing the abuse.
Court documents describe how Gelineau burned her son's penis and Cantrell burned the man's nipples, holding a lighter to them for about two minutes as he screamed in pain. During this, Gelineau is accused of beating her son over the head with a stick.
The son's nipples were burned completely off.
Though an exact motive as to what prompted the abuse is unclear, prosecutors said they believe it had something to do with the victim -- who is mentally challenged -- no longer receiving financial assistance from the government, according to The Daily Mail.
The victim now lives with his aunt and uncle in Massachusetts, and is back in school.
“He’s doing very well,” County Attorney Scott Murray said after the hearing. “But obviously he has a lot to deal with, and it’s going to be a long recovery period.”
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