A couple tortured their adopted children worse than “prisoners of war”, as they were found naked and huddled together for warmth on a cold basement floor. Charles Edmonson, 64, and wife Matthew Edmonson, 50, adopted the children - two brothers aged 13 and 11 and eight-year-old triplets - at their home in Ohio, US. Instead of treating them with love and support, the youngsters suffered at their hands, as they were taken to hospital with bleach burns and internal bleeding.
Clermont County prosecuting attorney, Mark J. Tekulve, described the treatment of the five sons as “worse than prisoners of war”. Tekulve added: “The videos of these undernourished and naked children huddled up in a locked room in the basement, on the stone-cold basement floor like a pile of puppies trying to stay together to keep warm, are nothing short of gut-wrenching. These two are unfit to be parents, and I am grateful to those who have worked tirelessly to make sure they will not be.
“Unfortunately, this isn't the first time and will not be the last time my office has had to seek indictment for people like this who pretend to be 'parents.’ The monstrous acts they were subjected to will no longer be a barrier to their development.
“While they will likely need mental health intervention the rest of their lives, physically and emotionally, they are flourishing.”. The pair were sentenced in Clermont County, Ohio, for the abuse they inflicted on five boys – four of whom had special needs. Matthew confessed to five counts of child endangering, while her husband admitted to kidnapping, felonious assault and three counts of child endangering.
