Mother of seriously malnourished children sentenced to 10 years for their abuse

A woman will spend 10 years in prison severely hunger to her three children, ordered Judge Melba Marsh on Tuesday morning.

In the Court, both the Prosecutor and the Defense told tragedy stories linked to the case.

The Prosecutor’s Office said that Hannah Johnson, 28, had three children of 4 years, 6 years and 7 years. The three were severely emaciated when Johnson left them in his mother’s house in 2023.

The eldest son, at 7 years, weighed only 22 pounds, prosecutors said.

“When I first saw them, I had never seen anything like that before in my life,” said Johnson’s mother. “It was as if the skin (7 years old) melted to their bones. He had no fat at all.”

Children are predominantly not verbal, with autism, prosecutors said.

Johnson’s defense lawyer told a long history of abuse that, according to her, understood Johnson’s childhood. The lawyer said that Johnson was raped and abused by an uncle, of whom his physically abusive father extorted the money in exchange for being with Johnson.

Johnson’s uncle is the father of his children, and Johnson’s lawyer said he controlled most of his life and the life of his children for years until he died. The lawyer said that Johnson had led his children to medical appointments and the hospital, where doctors noticed that the children’s father exercised on amounts of power over it.

“This is a horribly sad situation,” said Johnson’s lawyer.

Marsh decided to govern in line with the guilty agreement formed, in which Johnson was convicted of a position to endanger children and a kidnapping charge. Johnson was sentenced to 2 years for the position of children in danger and 8 years for the kidnapping position.