A Georgia woman was sentenced last week to 30 years in prison for the physical, mental, and emotional abuse of her three stepchildren.
Nora Rodgers pleaded guilty on October 9 to nine counts of cruelty to children, the Newton County District Attorney’s Office said. A sentencing hearing was held on Tuesday, and Rodgers was also sentenced to 30 years probation after the prison term.
The district attorney’s office said investigators were called to Rodgers home on October 4, 2020, by a relative who was concerned about the children.
“The children all had bruising, swelling, and physical marks showing the beatings they suffered,” the district attorney’s office said. “The nine-year-old had a black eye and severe bruising on his legs. The eight-year-old had bruises covering her body and scrapes and marks from physical punishments. The six-year-old child had the most significant physical injuries.”
That little girl “had scrapes, swelling, bruising covering her entire body and broken elbow” as well as “severe internal injuries that were treated by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s trauma team.
The defendant subjected the children to abuse “under the guise of punishment,” which included forcing them to perform “extreme bootcamp style exercises.”
“They would have to run laps, squats with large logs from the yard, jumping jacks, etc., for extended time periods and to the point of exhaustion and injury,” prosecutors said. “They would often have to perform these exercises in the middle of the night and in the heat of summer. When the exercises were not performed to Rodgers liking, she would then beat them.”
Prosecutors also said that Rodgers would frequently “spar” with the children, striking and hitting them.
The children were all malnourished since Rodgers underfed them with withheld food as a punishment.
“They would have time limits to eat their meals and Rodgers would blend their solid foods into one drink so they could eat even faster,” the statement said.
Rodgers did not employ the same tactics on her three biological children who also lived at the home.
When police became involved, all six children were removed from the home and placed in foster care.
Victim impact statements were delivered to the court last week in person and in writing. The court heard from the child victims, foster parents, a social worker, and the children’s grandmother.
“A special thanks goes to the foster parents who cared for the children after their abuse and family of the children who reported the abuse. While Rodgers put herself above the well-being of the kids, so many others fought for them.” District Attorney Randy McGinley said.
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[Featured image: Nora Rodgers/Newton County District Attorney’s Office]
