Disabled Winnipeg woman's torturers jailed
Last Updated: Monday, July 13, 2009 | 4:24 PM CT
CBC News
Three of four people who abused a young disabled woman who lived in their Winnipeg home in 2006 are now behind bars, and the fourth is under house arrest.
Brother and sister Dale Hendrickson, 24, and April Armstrong, 33, received a prison sentences — six years for Dale, five years for Armstrong — from provincial court Judge Kelly Moar. They had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
Their mother, Thelma Hendrickson, 63, was sentenced to provincial jail for a year, while Dale's former fiancée, Amanda O'Malley, 21, will be under house arrest for 18 months. They had pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of assault causing bodily harm.
The 23-year-old victim, who has the mental capacity of a 12-year-old because of a birth defect, was subjected to beatings, pushed down a flight of stairs and starved to the point of emaciation, the court was told last week.
The woman, who suffers from fetal Dilantin syndrome, a disorder that impaired her cognition at birth, was also repeatedly burned with lighters, cigarettes and even a kitchen tool heated red hot on a stove, the court heard.
She went to live with Thelma Hendrickson in 2005, a woman she considered a mother figure.
In February 2006, Hendrickson's son and daughter moved back from Calgary into their mother's home, accompanied by O'Malley.
The victim's family eventually grew worried after not seeing her for months and called police. When officers arrived at the home on June 22, 2006, they found the victim in a room in "dire condition," with black eyes and multiple bruises on her body, according to court documents.
The victim was taken to hospital, where she remained until Aug. 21. She had lost 100 pounds and was "severely emaciated," the court was told.
