XPost: talk.politics.guns, alt.fan.states.iowa, talk.politics.misc   
   XPost: alt.abortion, sac.politics   
   From: that.idiot.karen.bass.not@lamayor.org   
      
   CEDAR RAPIDS — A judge Friday sentenced a Cedar Rapids mother to up to 40   
   years in prison for committing “horrendous acts” upon her 3-year-old son,   
   who was severely and repeatedly beaten with an electrical cord and other means   
   over the course of a    
   year.   
      
   Sixth Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns, in sentencing J’Juanna   
   Williams, 26, said as a parent he cannot imagine another parent doing what she   
   did to her son. In two of the nine counts charged, Williams’ 5-year-old   
   daughter also suffered    
   child abuse from October 2022 to October 2023.   
      
   However, Bruns said, he wasn’t in “her shoes” and hadn’t experienced   
   the alleged child abuse she endured as a child, and the mental illness —   
   bipolar disorder and schizophrenia — she suffered. But nothing “justifies   
   what she did.” The    
   severe physical injuries and possible psychological injuries of the children   
   weighed in favor of a “significant” prison term, he said.   
      
   Williams previously pleaded to eight charges of child endangerment. Two of the   
   charges were made as Alford pleas, in which a defendant doesn’t admit guilt   
   but concedes the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction.   
      
   Bruns ran some of the charges consecutively and others concurrently, in   
   accordance with the plea agreement, for a total of up to 40 years in prison.   
   She has no mandatory minimum to serve before being eligible for parole.   
      
   Assistant Linn County Attorney Ryan Decker submitted photos of the severe and   
   permanent injuries to the 3-year-old victim, which showed only a “small   
   indication of the abuse” the child endured.   
      
   Bruns said he would allow them, over the defense’s objection, as a form of a   
   victim impact statement, since the child, now 5, wasn’t in court. The judge   
   didn’t allow the prosecutor to show the “graphic and disturbing” photos   
   in the courtroom.   
      
   Decker, in recommending the 40 year sentence, said the 3-year-old had injuries   
   “head to toe.” He suffered spinal fractures, a brain bleed and will go   
   blind at some point in his life from “trauma-induced cataracts.”   
      
   “I haven’t seen a case this horrific,” Decker said.   
      
   The child will have a constant reminder of the injuries because he will have   
   permanent scars and ongoing trauma, Decker said.   
      
   The sentence will provide “justice for all parties,” Decker said —   
   Williams will receive needed mental health treatment and both children will   
   have the chance to be in “caring and loving” homes one day.   
      
   Williams, who started crying during the hearing, apologized to her children   
   and said there was “no excuse for my behavior.” She hoped they could   
   forgive her because she can’t forgive herself.   
      
   ‘Medical definition of torture’   
   According to a criminal complaint, Cedar Rapids police responded to a child   
   not breathing or being unconscious after he was found in water on Oct. 22,   
   2023. The 3-year-old was on a hotel bed, naked and unresponsive, when officers   
   arrived.   
      
   The toddler had multiple facial and chest injuries and eventually was taken to   
   University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City for treatment due to the severity   
   and number of injuries — found to be consistent with repeated child abuse,   
   the complaint stated.   
      
   The 3-year-old initially was placed in a coma for emergency care. And after   
   medical evaluation, doctors said the child had several “classic pattern”   
   or “loop injuries highly specific for inflicted child abuse as a result of   
   being whipped or struck    
   with a cord-like object.”   
      
      
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