Delaware judge cites ‘evil’ and ‘extreme cruelty’ in sentencing couple for torturing their sons

By RANDALL CHASE
Associated Press

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware woman who pleaded guilty to torturing her two stepsons for almost two years with the assistance of their father has been sentenced to more than 100 years in prison. Forty-six-year-old Mary Vinson was sentenced  by a judge who described the abuse as “the most extensive and persistent evil” he has ever seen. Vinson pleaded guilty last year to 30 felony counts, including kidnapping, child abuse, strangulation and reckless endangering. The boys’ father, Charles Vinson, was also sentenced Thursday. He was given 49 years. The judge said video from surveillance cameras that monitored the closet where the boys were kept naked and starving in horrific conditions did not tell the entire story of their suffering.