A Kentucky couple faces nearly 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to severe child abuse charges. Jerome Norman and Mary Hall locked children in a room and withheld food as punishment. Pike Circuit Court imposed the maximum concurrent sentences on Friday.
Jerome Norman, 44, and Mary Hall, 44, entered Alford pleas in March to three counts of first-degree criminal abuse. On Friday, Pike Circuit Court Judge Eddy Coleman amended two counts to second-degree offenses for each and sentenced them to 20 years on the top count plus two five-year terms. The sentences will run concurrently, requiring each to serve 85% of about 20 years before parole eligibility, with credit for pretrial detention time served, according to courtroom observers from the Appalachian News Express. The couple was arrested in January 2025 after a malnourished, bruised child with a chipped tooth returned from winter break, prompting a Kentucky State Police investigation. Teachers had noticed bruises and hunger signs earlier, and authorities found the children confined in a locked room with boarded windows, subjected to manual labor and food deprivation despite the couple's resources. Pike County Commonwealth's Attorney Bill Slone told the court the abuse was intentional, with no drugs involved, and likened it to torture. 'These teachers were looking to make sure he was okay,' Slone said. 'And he was not okay. He was practically starved to death for five weeks.' Hall assumed custody of the children after her sister's 2018 car crash death; their father was imprisoned for manslaughter. She moved in with Norman in 2023, when conditions worsened. A social worker testified the oldest child was hospitalized five times, including a 2.5-month stay, and all three showed PTSD, ADHD, eating disorders and developmental delays. The children's guardian ad litem, a physician, described one child sucking insulation from walls for water and eating only baby rice. 'Food is a basic human right,' the physician said. 'They were tortured with food.' Slone welcomed the maximum penalties.