[CBFF] A real-life wicked stepmother

[Jerry Madsen]

Jail?  Why is she even being allowed to breathe?

Jerry
South Bend, IN

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Judge: 'You should never have been a mother'

GRAFTON, West Virginia (AP) -- A woman who forced her stepchildren to
gorge themselves on food and drink, then eat their own vomit has been
sentenced to two to six years in prison.

Venus Critchfield, 35, of Philippi, West Virginia, was also accused of
beating the children's feet with boards, and using ropes and hooks to
force them to stand for long periods, said Taylor County Prosecutor
John Bord.

Circuit Judge Alan D. Moats called the abuse one of the worst cases
he's seen in 30 years.

"You are like the proverbial wicked stepmother of fairy tales," he
said. "You should never have been a mother; you are the antithesis of
everything that is a mother."

The abuse began around 1997 and was "chronic, repeated and
escalating," the prosecutor said.

It involved all six of Critchfield's children and stepchildren over
time, Bord said, but only some of the children were willing to testify
against her.

Critchfield was sentenced to the maximum possible term Wednesday after
pleading guilty to two counts of felony child neglect with injury. The
charges stemmed from abuse that occurred between January 2001 and
February 2002.

Today, the victims range from 11 to 16 years old.

State child-welfare officials had removed the children from
Critchfield's care in the past, Bord said.

Their father, Jennings Brian Critchfield, is serving a three- to
15-year prison sentence for abuse.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



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