Saturday, September 7, 2019

Cudahy couple sentenced to prison for extensive child abuse inflicted on 15-year-old daughter

From JSOnline:

Felicia Boon walks the courthouse halls before joining her husband for trial July 23. (Photo: Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Parents from Cudahy were sentenced to prison Friday for the extended abuse and neglect of their 15-year-old daughter at the hands of the couple's other children.

Kevin Boon-Bey, 48, and Felicia Boon, 35, were convicted in July after a jury heard what Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Hanrahan called overwhelming evidence of physical and emotional injuries inflicted on the girl until her rescue by Cudahy police in December.

"Both of you are either in complete and utter denial of reality, under delusion, or still engaged in outright lying and manipulation," Hanrahan said. "Either way it concerns me deeply."

He sentenced Boon, who was portrayed as the intelligent, organized and undisputed leader of the household, to seven years in prison plus five years of supervision on each of three counts, plus three years in prison and three on supervision for a fourth count.

All the sentences are to run concurrently, meaning she'll serve seven years in prison and five on supervision.

Boon-Bey was sentenced to six years in prison and five on supervision. He was found guilty of three counts, the sentences for which were also made concurrent.

Kevin Boon-Bey waits for court to begin at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on July 23. (Photo: Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Torbenson noted how many people wrote letters in support of the couple and came to the hearings, including to Friday's sentencing. They were "seeking mercy and compassion" that Boon never showed the victim, he said.

He wanted them to know that the evidence at trial wasn't even all of the evidence since two of the three children who imposed the "discipline" on the victim declined to testify.  They are facing their own criminal charges in juvenile court.

The victim read a statement in court Friday. "All this time I'd been thinking I'm the problem, but I'm the victim," she said. "Your opinion no longer matters to me."

She had testified at trial about being locked in an upstairs bedroom where she had to sleep on the floor and use a pail as a toilet. Her half-siblings, ages 15, 14, and 12, burned her with boiling water, zip-tied her hands together and beat her with their fists, a belt and a pole. She once was choked with a cord until she passed out.

Police went to the home in December after getting a call about a girl throwing boiling water on another girl. The officer said the stench of urine and feces that hit him after opening a door to the upstairs was overpowering.

He found the victim in tattered clothes with cuts and bruises to her head and neck, and she said she hadn't eaten or drank in three days.

Boon-Bey and Boon have four younger children who were in the custody of child protective services after their arrests.

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