Malnourished 6YO Confined To Dog Crate Had Hot Sauce & Alcohol Poured In Her Eyes, Overheated Rice Sock Taped To Her Body

[Sugar Cookie]

Officials said 60-year-old Melinda Chance Lee pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated child abuse and received a maximum sentence of 20 years at Tutwiler Women’s Prison in Wetumpka.

The case began in 2022 when the Covington County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report at an Andalusia hospital after a 6-year-old girl there was reported to have shown signs of abuse and torture.

Authorities said the child had suffered severe physical injuries, including extensive bruising and burns across her body. She was also severely malnourished.

The Child Advocacy Center helped investigators in interviewing the victim and her 9-year-old sister, both of whom were under Lee’s care. While the older sister showed no physical signs of harm, she had endured significant mental and emotional abuse, according to officials.

The interviews revealed numerous abuse incidents, including having hot sauce or alcohol poured into the victim’s eyes and being covered with salted potato slices, having an overheated rice sock taped to her body to cause severe burns, beatings with a belt, confinement in a dog cage in Lee’s closet, and being forced to sleep on a bare laundry room floor. Medical staff determined the child had been malnourished to near death.

“This is the worst physical abuse case I’ve seen,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Nikki Stephens said.

During an interrogation by Lt. Investigator Joey Cato, Lee reportedly discussed the abuse “with a smile and through laughter,” claiming the children’s behavior justified her actions.

“In both interviews, Melinda Lee embodied pure evil,” Cato said. ”She showed no remorse for her actions, no concern for the children and was only emotional once she realized she was going to jail.”

Stephens said both girls have since been adopted and are “thriving.”

“They’ve accomplished far more in their young lives than Lee ever will, and I could not be more proud of each of them,” Stephens said.

Read more

‘As evil as it gets’: Woman sentenced to 20 years for ‘horrific’ child abuse

A woman in Alabama will spend the next two decades in state prison after pleading guilty to child abuse in a case prosecutors described as “horrific.”

www.wtap.com

 

[runninfawn]

ok to me child abuse would be today i lost my cool and slapped my child.... if it happens again later on b it next week, next month etc it is repeated child abuse... but what happened to this poor child is torture and it should have it's own qualification and a heck of a lot harsher punishment (no slap on the wrist or plead deal)