How Could You? Hall of Shame-Carolyn and Major John E. Jackson-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Mount Holly, New Jersey, kinship foster-to-adopt parents Carolyn Jackson, 35,  and John E. Jackson, 37, formerly of the Picatinny Arsenal Installation in Morris County, NJ were arrested on April 30, 2013 for the severe abuse of three adopted children, one of whom died in May 2008 (Joshua, 2, born with birth defects and a drug addiction died of a seizure according to World Net Daily). Since the incidents occurred on an Army base, this is a federal case. The abuse is said to have occurred from August 2005 until April 23, 2010.

They were charged with “abusing and neglecting the children for years through beating them, breaking their bones, failing to get them medical help, depriving them of drinking water and training their biological children to take part in the mistreatment.”

The indictment can be seen here.  There are 17 counts against them. There is one count of conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child; 3 counts of assault and 13 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

Some of the descriptions from the indictment include the following:

• biological children were told to prevent one of the adopted children from drinking out of sink and toilet bowls while the child was purposefully being dehydrated.
• red pepper flakes, hot sauce and raw onion was used as punishment
• one child was forced to ingest sodium or sodium-laden substances and denied water at the same time causing life-threatening hypernatremia (high amount of sodium in the blood)
• one child was beaten multiple times with a belt
• adoptive parents misrepresented the children’s medical conditions to multiple doctors
• misrepresentations occurred in NJ, OK, and IN
• withholding of prompt and proper medical care for a skin infection
• withholding of prompt and proper medical care for a broken humerus (upper arm bone).

 

“Carolyn and John Jackson are charged with unimaginable cruelty to children they were trusted to protect,” U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said this morning in a statement. “The crimes alleged should not happen to any child, anywhere, and it is deeply disturbing that they would happen on a military installation. Along with the FBI, we will continue to seek justice for our communities’ most vulnerable victims.”

“Authorities allege that the Jacksons told their three biological children not to report the physical assaults to others, saying that the punishments and disciplinary techniques were justified, as they were “training” the adopted children how to behave.

After John Jackson was told by a family friend that one of the children had revealed the abuse in the Jackson household, John Jackson reported it to Carolyn Jackson, authorities say, who retaliated against that child with multiple beatings with a belt.”

“They also withheld proper medical care for their adopted children, withheld sufficient nourishment and food for two of their children, withheld adequate water from two of their children, and, at times, prohibited them from drinking water altogether, authorities say. ”

Army major, wife charged with abusing 3 foster children at Picatinny Arsenal

[NJ.com 4/30/13 by Jason Grant/The Star-Ledger]

“Currently, all of the children are in the custody of the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency. ”

“The two appeared in federal court for an initial appearance on Tuesday morning [April 30, 2013], where they were temporarily detained pending a bail hearing on Thursday [May 2, 2013] at 11 a.m. before Judge Falk in Newark federal court.”

New Jersey Couple Indicted On Charges Of ‘Unimaginable Cruelty’ Toward Adopted Children

[CBS Philly 4/30/13 by Chelsea Karnash]

A comment on the Trentonian news site claims that this couple is falsely accused because they are Christian homeschoolers.

Sure enough, there are 2011 articles on the Christian news service World News Daily about this case.

2011 Media

“Army Major John Jackson and his wife Carolyn, devout Christian homeschoolers with a history of serving as adoptive and foster parents, had their five children taken away in April 2010 by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services – and despite the collapse of the evidence against the Jacksons, DYFS hasn’t returned the children to their parents.

During the course of a nine-month legal battle to regain custody of their children, the Jacksons say they have encountered prejudice against their religion and homeschooling as they fight a state agency determined to see the children adopted by strangers no matter what the evidence says.

According to the Jacksons, DYFS employees, contractors and foster parents alike have demonstrated anti-religious bias, including one case supervisor who refused to allow the Jacksons to pray with their children as they wished, for the reunification of the family.

“You can pray about other things, you can pray that they’ll be happy in their placements,” said a DYFS worker identified by Jackson as Denise Hollerbach.

Jackson accuses DYFS of fraudulently misrepresenting statements by himself and his children to build a case against him, “brainwashing” the children by telling them they have been abused and “isolating” them by not allowing them to be assessed independently by U.S. Army investigators.

The father of five claims DYFS suppressed a medical report concluding that injuries suffered by daughter Chaya Jackson could not be proven with “medical certainty” to have resulted from child abuse. Dr. Mark S. Finkelstein of the Alfred I. Dupont Hospital for Children wrote, “It is equally possible that this injury may have occurred in or around the time of birth or in the later post-neonatal period” – before Chaya was adopted by the Jacksons.

“DYFS kept this out of the court. We had to get it and provide it as evidence,” said Jackson.

“DYFS had the information to exonerate us before they removed our children, but they continued on to try to gather information to remove the kids,” said Carolyn Jackson. “It’s been difficult to work with them and try to walk in integrity and love when you know anything you say will be turned around and used against you.”

John Jackson added DYFS conducted a “forensic assessment” under the guise of fulfilling a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation: “It was really an interrogation. They should have been read me my rights, and I should have had a lawyer present.”

“They’ve got all my children,” John Jackson lamented. “My children are being held hostage. They’ve been kidnapped.

“They’re not accountable to anyone,” Jackson told WND. “They told us they do not lose cases, and they will substantiate the abuse. This has not been an objective investigation in the first place. They want to adopt the children out, because they get money for adopting children out.”

A DYFS spokesman refused to comment on the case, citing “strict confidentiality laws.”

Anti-Christian bias

“This is a good, Christian homeschooled family. They’re being persecuted,” said the Jacksons’ lawyer, Grace T. Meyer, a New Jersey attorney affiliated with the Home School Legal Defense Association. “They’re homeschooled and they don’t fit the pattern for most DYFS cases. Most cases involve parents who are on drugs or in jail … in these cases you’re guilty until proven innocent.”

“We were told we’re ‘excessive Christians’ by our therapeutic supervisor,” a DYFS contractor, said John Jackson.

During a visit with the children, a DYFS supervisor told Jackson he was not allowed to pray with his children for reunification of the family. Jackson recorded the following conversation with a woman he identified as Denise Hollerbach:

Jackson: I was told by Mr., ah, [unclear] that we can’t pray about reunification?

Hollerbach: No. Not about reunification. You can pray, I can talk to you in the other room away from the children if you’d like.

Jackson: OK

[sounds of movement]

Hollerbach: Can you tell me what the prayer is about?

Jackson: Yeah, the prayer is about our family and restoring our family.

Hollerbach: OK, and that’s what – because we don’t want the children to feel guilty about anything that’s going on and we’re afraid that would inspire guilt in their heart, which we’re trying to, you know, we’re trying to keep that out of it. [garbled] We’re talking in terms of prayer, not about reunification

Jackson: OK, you’re telling me what I can and can’t pray about.

Hollerbach: Well, for the kids’ sake, the psychologists have recommended that we not discuss reunification right now.

Jackson: That you not discuss it or …

Hollerbach: No, that you not discuss reunification.

Jackson: All right, so I cannot pray about reunification.

Hollerbach: Correct. It’s for the psychological benefit of your children, because we don’t want them to feel guilty about anything that’s going on. We don’t want them to – that will inspire guilt in their hearts and we don’t want that to occur.

Jackson: I just don’t understand. How can that inspire guilt when reunification means restoring the family? They didn’t do anything to separate the family, so they shouldn’t feel guilty about separating the family…

[crosstalk]

Hollerbach: But they feel that, so we’re trying not to …

Jackson: Well, I don’t see how they feel that because they’ve done nothing

Hollerbach: We agree wholeheartedly

Jackson: And the evaluators know they’ve done nothing.

Hollerbach: We agree wholeheartedly on that.

Jackson: So they can’t feel guilt about something that they haven’t been …

Hollerbach: Well they can, they can, and that’s been discussed with us, as far as that …

Jackson: So I cannot pray about reunification.

Hollerbach: Right.

Jackson: Is there anything else I can’t pray about?

Hollerbach: Right now that’s one thing that we’ve been told that there shouldn’t be a prayer about. You can pray about other things, pray that, you know, they’re happy in their placements. You could pray about, umm, you know, but that you can’t pray about.

Jackson: So DYFS gets to tell me how I can pray to God with my family?

Hollerbach: Well right now, right now for the benefit of your children, we’re asking that you not pray about reunification because we don’t want the children to feel guilty about anything that has occurred and when parents talk about reunification, that sometimes even though we tell the children, and I’m sure you’ve told the children that this is not their fault, they feel that it is.

Jackson: All right, I understand. We don’t pray about reunification. Got it.

Hollerbach: All right, thank you.

The following week, DYFS withdrew the prohibition on praying for reunification.

After another supervised visit, Carolyn Jackson said the DYFS supervisor told her, “It was a good visit today because there wasn’t much God talk. We have a problem with your believing in the part that talks about spanking.” Jackson added, “They are changing our children’s words, ‘if a man loves his child he’ll beat his child.’ They will skew any words they can to fit their own purpose.”

Allegations of abuse disproven

The Jacksons’ problems with DYFS trace back to 2008 when their adopted two-year-old son Joshua died of a seizure. The Jacksons had provided foster care to several medically at-risk children while living in Oklahoma and adopted Joshua, who was born with birth defects and a drug addiction.

According to John Jackson, when possible abuse of Chaya emerged, a hospital social worker claimed Joshua had died at home under suspicious circumstances and was cremated rapidly so his death could not be investigated.

John Jackson replies that Joshua was cremated only after his body was examined and released by a medical examiner, and the family was cleared of any wrongdoing by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division.

“He died of a seizure disorder in the hospital,” said Jackson, who asserted in a court document that Joshua died at St. Clare’s Hospital in Dover, N.J. The Army major then observed that, as an active duty serviceman, he has no permanent home.

“I [cremated Joshua] so we can take him with us. When we have a permanent home he will be buried there, with us.”

After the Jacksons brought two-year-old Chaya to Morristown Memorial Hospital with a high fever and heavy sweating, they were accused of “medical neglect, malnourishment and salt poisoning,” said Jackson. He added that the hospital “manufactured evidence” of broken bones to prove Chaya had been physically abused.

The hospital found that Chaya was very small for her age and had abnormally high levels of salt in her blood. X-rays revealed evidence of a healed fracture in the wrist.

“All five children were taken away, right away, ” said Meyer. The five children include the Jacksons’ three natural children, 13-year-old John Jr., 10-year-old Cameron, 9-year-old Chavon, and two adopted children, four-year-old Jana and Chaya. The two adopted children are daughters of a cousin of Carolyn Jackson, and were classified as medically at-risk when they were adopted. Chaya, in particular, has not grown in length since she was one year old, and has been diagnosed with “failure to thrive.”

“When the kids were in custody, they said ‘Yes, we were spanked,’ and they quoted the Bible, ‘Spare the rod, spoil the child.’ So DYFS said they were beaten with rods and are ‘over-religious,’ and took their Bibles away,” said Meyer.

In addition to physical abuse, the Jacksons have been accused of abusing the children through corporal punishment and depriving them of TV and video games, and of harming their social development through home schooling.

According to Meyer, a pediatric nephrologist has found that Chaya’s excessive salt is caused by a medical condition called hypernatremia, not by “salt poisoning.” Another specialist will testify that Chaya’s broken bone may have occurred at birth, not resulting from abuse by the Jacksons.

“Many of the reasons they took the children in the first place have been disproven,” Meyer added. “Now the case is just about spanking.”

Jackson children allegedly mistreated in foster homes

As the legal battle drags on, the five Jackson children have been bounced around between several foster homes, and currently live in three separate homes.

“We have relatives willing to take all five children, but DYFS told us that family is not an option for placement for our children,” said Carolyn Jackson.

“They put our children into homes completely opposite to our lifestyle … It has just been a constant barrage of them coming against our faith,” Carolyn Jackson continued.

“They went through a process of forcing our children to assimilate, trained our children to defy authority, and tried to break down their resolve,” she added. “Foster parents encouraged kids to do ungodly things. [DYFS] wouldn’t put them with the family we chose whose values were consistent with ours.

“They’ve been ridiculed for praying before their meals, their Bibles have been taken away from them. I made up books of pictures for the kids. They took away pictures of all their parents, brothers and sisters, stripped them of any memory of home.

“Two of our kids, Cameron and Chavon, have been moved to relative care after being moved around in four different homes,” added Carolyn Jackson. “In the fourth home, the man picked my daughter up off the floor, slammed her against the wall and screamed at her. They stripped our children of any comfort food, only water and cold cut sandwiches. They were 10 and 8 at the time, Chavon is now 9.”

Chaya is living in a special foster home for “medically fragile” children. According to John Jackson, she has put on weight, but still hasn’t grown in length.

John and Jana are living with foster parents who “told them they had been abused,” said Carolyn Jackson. “They told the kids we are religious fundamentalists who didn’t allow the children to socialize because we homeschooled them. This unmarried couple has put out documents saying we were religious fundamentalists, enrolled our daughter in public school and refused to bring her out to the Christian school.

“The foster father threatened my husband, so he filed a police report. DYFS won’t see it is a hostile home environment. They moved instead to cut off our phone access to our kids. DYFS successfully got our daily phone contact cut to two times a week.”

John Jackson added that the foster family enrolled John and Jana in public schools in defiance of a court order allowing the Jacksons to enroll their children in Christian schools.

“We were told we don’t have a right to know what school our child is going to, after we won in court the right to keep our children in Christian schools.”

The case returns to court Monday, when the Jacksons will present their defense.”

Father: ‘My children are being held hostage’

[World Net Daily 1/20/11 by Brian Fitzpatrick]

World Net Daily even stirred up a lot of support for their campaign a few days later. See here. Read the indictment again and the supposed explanation by the Jacksons in the WND piece.

REFORM Puzzle Pieces

Update: “A New Jersey Army major and his wife accused of abusing their foster children with disciplinary measures that included assault, withholding food and water and forcing the children to eat hot sauce were freed on bail Thursday [ May 2, 2013]”

“The Jacksons appeared in federal court in Newark on Thursday, shackled and clad in green jail jumpsuits. They were each freed on $250,000 bail.

The Jacksons must also wear electronic monitoring devices and were placed under home detention with the exception of work, legal, medical and religious reasons.

They were released into the custody of third-party custodians who are responsible for ensuring the Jacksons meet their conditions of release.

United States Magistrate Judge Mark Falk ordered the Jacksons have no direct, phone, Internet or third-party contact with their two minor biological children, who prosecutors say were assaulted by their parents.

Authorities claim the abuse happened in 2010 and all children were taken out of the home by the state. A lawyer for John Jackson said the couple has visitation rights with two of their biological children and that parental rights with the other three children _ one biological child and two who were fostered _ were terminated.” [They only terminated rights to some of the children?]

“In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa L. Jampol argued that the couple had breached family court custody agreements and spent time alone with the biological children, when the order stipulated that the guardians be present during all visits.”

“Lawyers for the Jacksons argued that the two have no prior criminal records and were not a flight risk. Each has a job; John Jackson will return to his job with the Army, his lawyer said.

“Here’s a man who has never been arrested, has never been in trouble with the law, has a distinguished military career, served overseas, a distinguished veteran,” said David Holman, a federal public defender representing John Jackson. The only case against him, Holman said, has been a case in family court involving the children, he said.

There has been an outpouring of support for the couple, who friends say were active at a church near Mount Holly, outside Philadelphia.

Roy Bryhm said he has known the couple for years and his son still sees their biological children, even attending his or her birthday party since the Jacksons lost custody.

“They’re just devastated,” Bryhm said of the children. “They miss their parents.”

Bryhm said he only knows the Jacksons to be caring, loving parents and that there is no truth to the allegations.

John Angeleri said he met the Jacksons through ALERT Cadet, a Christian organization for boys and their fathers.

Angeleri said he met the Jacksons after they lost custody of the children, but only knows them to be caring people.

“There’s nothing in their characters that is anything less than regular parents,” Angeleri said.

Bryhm and Angeleri said friends have helped raise money for the Jacksons, who have depleted their savings and retirement money fighting the family court charges.”

Army major, wife make bail in NJ child abuse case

[The Daily News 5/2/13 by Associated Press]

Update 2:  They have a website  http://reunitejackson7.webs.com/.

“An Army major and his wife pleaded not guilty on Thursday [May 9, 2013] to federal charges alleging the couple abused their three foster children by withholding food and water, making the children eat red pepper and assaulting them to the point of breaking their bones.

Dressed in full military uniform, John Jackson appeared with his wife Carolyn Jackson in federal court in Newark, New Jersey on 17 counts of endangerment, assault and conspiracy.

A trial date was set for July 8, and each of the Jacksons was allowed to remain free on $250,000 bail.”

“The Jackson children are in the custody of New Jersey’s Department of Children and Families, the U.S. attorney’s office has said.

John Jackson did not speak during his court appearance but entered his plea of not guilty through his court-appointed attorney.

Carolyn Jackson also had her attorney enter a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Each count carries a maximum possible prison sentence of 10 years upon conviction, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.”

Army major appears in full uniform hand in hand with wife at trial after couple ‘abused foster children by breaking their bones and force feeding hot pepper as a punishment’

[Daily Mail 5/9/13 by Associated Press]

Update 3: According to a  Military Times articleThe-human-toll-child-abuse-Army , as of July 29, 2013, the trial date has not been set.

Update 4: “A federal judge yesterday lifted the bail restrictions of home confinement and GPS monitoring against Army Maj. John Jackson and his wife, Carolyn — each charged with abusing their adopted and foster children for years.

U.S. District Judge Katherine Hayden ruled that in light of a recent family court decision, the restrictions would appear to do little to keep the Jacksons from influencing future testimony in their case.

But Hayden sternly warned both Jacksons — seated next to each other with stoic expressions in a Newark courtroom — “not to discuss” the case with their three biological children, who prosecutors claim were forced to take part in the abuse.

As she leveled that warning, Hayden also said, “I’m looking them (John and Carolyn Jackson) right in the eye.”

Yesterday’s hearing was the second held in five weeks on the Jacksons’ bail-related restrictions before trial. In November, Hayden ruled the Jacksons could see their biological children on certain occasions during the holiday season, despite “strong” objections from prosecutor Melissa Jampol who laid out concerns the couple would try to influence the children’s testimony.

Rubin Sinins, John Jackson’s lawyer, noted yesterday a state family court judge had recently granted the Jacksons more “liberal” visitation with their biological children, including once-a-week overnight supervised visits at the home of the children’s current guardian. Especially given that decision, Hayden said, keeping the Jacksons under GPS monitoring or home detention appeared to do little to mitigate the “risk” of them influencing the children’s testimony.

“We have to honor what everybody knows is the bond these people have with their (biological) children,” Hayden said, noting that lifting the two bail restrictions might help the Jacksons spend productive time with their biological children since they’ll be able to do more.

The judge also pointed out, “For the Jacksons to go out and create a fresh record of non-compliance (by influencing future testimony) would be a form of suicide (to) their ongoing efforts to defend themselves.”

The Jacksons lost custody of children they fostered and adopted between 2005 and 2010, authorities have said. (The names of the children are not public.)

Wearing full military dress, John Jackson, 37, sat calmly in court and did not speak. Nor did his wife, Carolyn, 35. They left quickly afterwards, saying they had no comment. Their attorneys declined to comment, too.

On April 30, federal prosecutors announced a 17-count indictment against the Jacksons that accused them of beating their adopted and foster children with a “deadly weapon,” breaking bones, failing to get them medical help and training their biological kids to take part in mistreatment. The document alleged the Jacksons force-fed children red pepper flakes. It also said they blocked a child from drinking water, then made an older biological child “watch over to prevent (the child) from drinking out of sinks and toilet bowls.”

Both Jacksons face a maximum of 10 years in prison on each count — which include endangering the welfare of a child and assault — if convicted. The abuse allegedly happened when the Jacksons lived at the Picatinny Arsenal, a federal Army installation in Morris County.

Several friends of the Jacksons, including some who’d said they had seen the parents with their foster and adopted children, have defended the Jacksons publicly.

Jampol yesterday accused the Jacksons of “repeatedly refus(ing) to follow the dictates of the family court” by visiting biological children alone — and she said “the defendants have a long history of making misleading statements.” Hayden pointed out that she “consider(s) the family court to be the arbitrar” of the children’s best interests. The judge also noted “this case is unusual … stand(ing) for the intersection between bail in the federal (criminal) system and (a) family court matter,” which is concerned with the best interests of children.”

Judge lifts bail restrictions on couple accused of abusing adopted and foster children[ Nj.com 12/10/13 by Jason Grant]

Update 5:”A federal jury will not hear about the death of an adopted child of an Army major and his wife who face trial on charges of inflicting “unimaginable cruelty” on their adopted children by allegedly withholding water, breaking bones and feeding them hot sauce, a judge ruled on Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden said she would not permit any evidence of John and Carolyn Jackson’s son’s death to be shared with the jury not only because it would be “unduly prejudicial” to the couple, but would confuse and mislead the jury.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office sought to tell the jury that the Jacksons’ abuse contributed to the May 2008 death of the boy. The boy’s cause of death was determined to be due to natural causes and the Jacksons were never implicated in his death. However, it was revealed in court that an impaneled grand jury is investigating the facts and circumstances of his death that could lead to new charges against the couple.

The alleged abuse of the boy, as well as the couple’s failure to seek prompt medical care for him, will be conveyed to the jury at the trial scheduled to begin sometime in September.

John E. Jackson, 38, who wore full military dress uniform on Tuesday, and Carolyn, 36, of Mount Holly, sat quietly in the front row of the courtroom during the lengthy hearing that addressed multiple motions. John Jackson remains on active duty and is still assigned to Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, said Frank Misurelli, a public affairs officer for Picatinny.

The couple, who have three biological children and adopted three more, are charged in a 17-count indictment with one count of conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child, 13 counts of endangering the welfare of a child and three counts of assault.

From August 2005 through April 2010, the couple engaged in a course of neglect and cruelty primarily toward three children whom they fostered, then adopted, including the boy who died, the indictment alleges.

The Jacksons, who lived at the Picatinny Arsenal during part of the period cited in the indictment, allegedly assaulted their children with various objects; caused two of the foster children to sustain broken bones; withheld proper medical care from the foster children and deprived them of sufficient food and water, the indictment said.

The foster children also were forced to ingest hot sauce, red pepper flakes, raw onions and other substances that caused them pain and suffering, according to federal prosecutors. One child was fed excessive sodium while fluid-intake was restricted, causing the child to suffer hypernatremia and dehydration, a life-threatening condition, the indictment said.

The Jacksons instructed their biological children not to report the physical assaults to others, the indictment said, explaining that the punishments and disciplinary techniques were justified because they were “training” the adopted children how to behave.

But one of the biological children confided in a family friend about the alleged abuse.

The couple do not have custody of any of their children; parental rights have been terminated with two adoptive children and one biological child while they have visitation rights with the other two children, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

 

Jury won’t hear about death of adopted son of Army major, wife during trial [North Jersey 6/24/14 by Karen Sudol]

Update 6:“In treating the injured 2-year-old adopted daughter of Army Maj. John E. Jackson and his wife, Carolyn, a doctor testified Tuesday that he was reminded of a patient he had seen two years earlier with similar injuries: the girl’s adopted brother.

Juan Gutierrez, head of the pediatrics intensive care unit at Morristown Medical Center, testified Tuesday in the Jacksons’ child-abuse trial in federal court in Newark  that the underweight girl’s body, dotted with scars, resembled that of the boy he had previously treated.

“I came to the realization that the mother taking care of this child was the same person who had been taking care of the prior child I had seen,” he said.

Gutierrez was the first witness called at the trial of the Jacksons, who are charged with abusing and neglecting their three young adopted children through beatings, withholding water and force-feeding them hot pepper flakes and sauce. The couple lived at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County for a period during which they also are charged with withholding proper medical care from their children.

Their attorneys have said the Jacksons never intended to harm their children.

Gutierrez saw the girl on Apr. 15, 2010 after she was transferred from another emergency room with reports of seizures and sleepiness. He noticed she was small, weighing 15 pounds at 2 years old, that scars covered her body and that she had dangerously high levels of sodium in her body, which could lead to her death.

He said Carolyn Jackson told him the girl had problems with growth because her birth mother had been drug-addicted and she had a history of recurrent skin infections. The couple also told him that part of the child’s missing upper lip was due to an infection, Gutierrez testified.

After discovering an old injury, a fracture of the upper arm, Guiterrez said, he contacted child protective services because he was concerned there “could be some indication of abuse involved.” He had ruled out any medical conditions or diseases that caused the girl’s illnesses.

Two years prior, he said, he had treated the nearly 3-year-old son of the couple, who weight just 20 pounds and exhibited scars. The boy was brought to the hospital because he suffered from scalded skin syndrome, a painful bacterial infection that causes blisters and resembles burns.

Gutierrez said the boy’s mother him told that the boy has been born prematurely to a mother with a history of substance abuse and that he had problems growing and had recurring skin problems that included boils.

The trial was set to  continue today before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden.”

 

Doctor testifies in Army couple’s trial about suspicions of child abuse [North Jersey.com 10/21/14 by Karen Sudol]

Update 7:“A federal judge refused to declare a mistrial Wednesday after lawyers for an Army couple charged with child abuse objected to the testimony of a child services worker who told the jury that it was the worst case of abuse she had seen.

U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden instead told the jury to disregard the statement made by Alison Cassone, a family support worker for the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, formerly the Division of Youth and Family Services.

Carolyn and John Jackson are accused of beating their three young adopted children, withholding water, and force-feeding them hot pepper flakes and sauce. They lived at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County for a period during which they also are charged with withholding proper medical care from their children.

Their lawyers say the couple never intended to harm the children.

Cassone testified that she visited one of the girls at Morristown Memorial Hospital in 2010 and found that scars covered her body. The child, who was 2 years old at the time, had been admitted for seizures, sleepiness and dangerously high levels of sodium in her body. She was considered to be underweight for her age.

Cassone’s eyes welled with tears when a prosecutor showed her a picture of the girl at the hospital and asked how the child looked. She responded that the child looked near death, was balding and that it was “the worst case of neglect and abuse” she had ever seen.

In arguing for the mistrial, Rubin Sinins, Carolyn Jackson’s attorney, said that the “DYFS has now told the jury this was abuse and neglect and they’re guilty.”

Outside the presence of the jury, Sinins asked Cassone why she had made that statement given that she was supposed to testify only about facts.

“Because first of all I got emotional looking at those pictures,” Cassone replied. “I’ve known them since they were babies,  and also we removed those children from the care of Carolyn and John Jackson due to fact that we believe abuse and neglect did occur.”

Later, the judge advised the jury to ignore Cassone’s “worst case” statement.

“I further instruct you that Ms. Cassone cannot make any conclusions or determinations of whether there may have been abuse of (the girl) as these are ultimate factual issues for you to decide in this case,” she told the jury.

Cassone testified that she had performed a home study to determine if the Jacksons were suitable adoptive parents for two girls in 2008. She recommended them, and acknowledged under questioning from defense attorneys that there were no red flags and that the two girls had bonded with the couple. The Jacksons adopted the two girls in 2009.

As a result of the 2-year-old’s hospital admission in 2010, Cassone said, the children were removed from the Jackson home and placed in foster care. Cassone said she saw the 2-year-old several times in the months after she was removed and found that she had gained weight, her scars were healing, and she was vibrant and happy.”

Judge refuses to declare mistrial in case of Army couple accused of child abuse in N.J[North Jersey.com 10/29/14  by Karen Sudol]

Update 8:“A federal judge cut off testimony in the child abuse trial of Army Major John Jackson and his wife and sent jurors home today after a prosecutor slipped and suggested that one of the couple’s three adopted children had died.

Defense attorneys for the Jacksons immediately demanded a mistrial out of earshot of jurors who, because of a pre-trial ruling, were not supposed to learn of the youngster’s death in 2008 before he’d turned three.

U.S. District Court Judge Katharine Hayden said she will rule Friday morning on whether to declare a mistrial several weeks into the government’s case against John and Carolyn Jackson.

The Jacksons are facing child endangerment and assault charges for abusing and neglecting three of their adopted children through harsh discipline that included feeding them red hot pepper flakes and pouring hot sauce into their mouths.

The couple was living at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County with their three biological children and three adopted children when some of the abuse is alleged to have occurred. They had previously lived in Oklahoma.

One of the three adopted children – a boy – died in May 2008 from what a medical examiner determined was natural causes.

Before the start of the trial, defense attorneys successfully argued that any mention of the boy’s death would prejudice jurors against the Jacksons. 

This morning, during questioning of the Jackson’s 16-year-old son, a key witness against his parents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Jampol phrased a question by asking whether he recalled an event that occurred when his adopted brother “was alive.”

Rubin Sinins, the attorney for Carolyn Jackson, argued that no instruction telling jurors to ignore the comment would override the damage that was done.

“This is a tainted jury,” Sinins told Hayden.

Sinins said he would have a hard time looking jurors in the eye since they would be wondering why he hadn’t addressed the child’s death in his opening statements.

“This jury, knowing that I didn’t tell them this, I look like a sleaze,” Sinins said.

Federal prosecutors said the issue could be resolved with an order from the judge asking the jury not to consider the child’s death in its deliberations. They said the comment was unintentional.

“This is irrelevant,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Shumofsky. “The government fails to see what has changed.”

On Wednesday, the 16-year-old boy,[John Jr.] whose name is being withheld by NJ Advance Media, told jurors his mother justified the discipline she meted out to his adopted siblings by pointing to the Book of Proverbs.

“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child,” his mother told him. “The rod of correction will drive it out.”

He said his mother took to using a wooden paddle or a ruler with the words “The Golden Rule” emblazoned in black letters, to “swat” his adopted siblings on the backside if they failed to get into their car seat quickly enough.”

Judge weighs mistrial in child abuse trial of U.S. Army major and wife[NJ.com 11/13/14 by Thomas Zambito]

Update 9:”A teenager told jurors in federal court Wednesday that his parents quoted Bible passages about discipline over several years during which they used a paddle, a belt and a ruler to beat three young children they had adopted. They force-fed one child raw onions as a punishment for sneaking food, he said.

The 16-year-old is the key prosecution witness in the trial of his parents, Carolyn and John Jackson, an Army couple accused of abusing the adopted children — two girls and a boy.

The teenager, who has been removed from the custody of his parents, testified that they said the adopted children had to be trained so that they would behave like their three biological children.

He said his parents pointed out passages in the Book of Proverbs, including: “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it out,” and, “He who spares the rod hates his child, but he who loves his child disciplines him accordingly.”

Prosecutors have said the Jacksons abused the adopted children, broke their bones, withheld water and neglected to seek medical attention for them. The Jacksons are charged with conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child, endangering the welfare of a child and assault.

They are being tried in federal court in Newark because they lived at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County for a time during which the abuse was said to have occurred. The couple are free on bail, and John Jackson remains on active duty at Picatinny.

The nervous 16-year-old, wearing a button-down shirt, khakis and sneakers, took the witness stand Wednesday and did not look at his parents. He had not seen them since 2011. He referred to them several times as his “biological parents.”

The Jacksons did not react when he took the stand.

At one point, prosecutors told the judge that the boy had been terrified when he was left in the courtroom with only the jury and his parents while the lawyers and judge discussed an objection in a different room. After that, the judge allowed the boy to leave the witness stand each time discussions were held in another room.

All three of the Jacksons’ biological children have been removed from their custody. In addition to the 16-year-old, they have a boy and a girl, both younger. The couple took in three foster children while they were infants and toddlers and later adopted them.

The adopted boy died in May 2008, but the Jacksons have not been charged in his death, and the jury will not hear about it. However, a grand jury is investigating the circumstances of the boy’s death, prosecutors have said.

During his daylong testimony, the boy said various “rods of correction” were used on his younger siblings. The two girls were struck with a wooden stick, he said, one for sleeping at inappropriate times and running around naked when company was over. That girl, who was about 2 at the time, snuck cookies from the cabinets and drank water from the toilet, prompting his mother to pour hot pepper flakes or hot sauce into her mouth, or force her to eat a raw onion, he said.

The other little girl was force-fed hot sauce for failing to eat red meat, he recalled, and his mother would hold the child’s mouth shut to force her to chew.

The children were swatted if they failed to get into chairs at a table quickly enough, he said. If the young boy didn’t walk fast enough, his mother would push him, the 16-year-old testified.

“She would grab his arm with one hand and use the other hand to swing the paddle and hit him on his butt,” he said. When asked how he felt witnessing some of the swats, he replied, “Unhappy. It made me feel sad to see it happen.”

He recalled an incident when the boy fell down a flight of stairs in the home. As he comforted the crying child, he saw his mother standing at the top of the stairs. She said to him, “You don’t always have to come to his rescue.”

That prompted the judge to instruct the jury that Carolyn Jackson was not charged with pushing the young boy down the stairs.

The teen said he told his father at least once that he didn’t feel the discipline was fair.

“I remember asking him to stop what was going on and asking him to listen to me,” he said. His father seemed to listen, but nothing ever came of the conversation, he said.

The teen also said he noticed that the boy and the youngest girl failed to grow after the family took them in.

He said the boy was hospitalized several times, once for a bowel obstruction, once for a head injury, once for a finger infection that led to a partial amputation, and once for a severe skin infection that resembled burns.

When the teen was removed from the custody of the Jacksons, he told his new foster parents about the abuse, he said. The Jacksons no longer have custody of any of the children.

Prosecutors did not ask the teen Wednesday whether he or his biological siblings had ever been beaten or disciplined, as the adopted children had. He is to continue testifying today in U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden’s courtroom.”

Son testifies NJ parents used Bible verses to justify beatings of adopted siblings [NJ.com 11/12/14 by Karen Sudol]

“Despite 17 charges of child abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, and damning evidence from their own son, the trial has now ended for an Army Major and his wife after a prosecutor’s slip of the tongue.

According to nj.com, U.S. District Judge Katherine Hayden declared a mistrialFriday morning in the case of Army Major John Jackson and his wife, Carolyn, after a prosecutor briefly mentioned information in court Thursday that was not admissible per pretrial rulings.

That information was related to the death of one of the couple’s children, but was not allowed in court because the death was not related to any alleged abuse by the parents, a judge ruled earlier this year.

“I’m firmly convinced that the right to a fair trial has slipped away,” Hayden said Friday morning, nj.com reported.

The prosecutor, during questioning Thursday, referred to the deceased child by saying, “when he was alive,” the report said. That immediately drew a response from the defense, who told the judge the jury had now been tainted, the report said.

The couple was indicted on charges stemming from alleged abuse of three adopted children that occurred between 2005 and 2010 while the family was stationed at Picattiny Arsenal in Morris County.

The couple’s oldest biological son, 16, testified earlier this week that his mother would often hit an adopted son for not getting into car seats quickly enough, and two adopted daughters were forced to eat hot sauce and red pepper flakes. When the children were taken into protective services in 2010, they were allegedly malnourished and severely dehydrated.

The state plans to retry the case, the report said. No new date has been set.

 

If convicted, each of the parents would face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 for each charge.”

Judge Declares Mistrial in Child Abuse Case Against Army Major, Wife[Morristown Patch 1/14/14 by y Jason Koestenblatt]

“Federal prosecutors say they intend to retry an Army major and his wife charged with abusing their children, after a judge halted the proceedings yesterday over the inadvertent disclosure that the couple’s two-year-old son had died while in their care.

No timetable has been set yet for a new trial for Maj. John Jackson and his wife Carolyn, who are charged with endangerment and assault for abusing three of their six children, while stationed at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County.

A conference on the matter is expected to be held after Thanksgiving.

A mistrial in the high-profile was declared yesterday morning by U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden, a day after one of the prosecutors referred to the dead child, despite orders from the judge to keep the death from jurors because it would be prejudicial to the Jacksons.

The couple, who have been accused of hurting the child, have not been charged with his death, which was ruled by a medical examiner to be from “natural causes.”

Hayden said while the mistake was not malicious or intentional, it was unfair to the defendants to proceed, with the jury now knowing the boy had died.

“I’m firmly convinced that the right to a fair trail has slipped away,” said Hayden.

The couple sat silently in a Newark courtroom as the judge made her decision and then brought in and dismissed the jury

The government had been just four weeks into its case.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said they are committed to retrying the case. “We believe the defendants would have continued to receive a fair trial had we been allowed to proceed,” said Rebekah Carmichael.

Jackson is a military veteran who entered the Army in 1993 and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. With three children of their own, he and his wife took in and adopted another child, and three years later took in two more.

But last year, federal prosecutors announced a 17-count indictment accused the couple of beating their adopted and foster children, breaking bones, failing to get them medical help and training their biological kids to take part in mistreatment. The indictment also alleged the Jacksons force-fed children red pepper flakes, prevented a child from drinking water, and made an older biological child make sure the child did not drink out of sinks and toilet bowls.

According the authorities, the Jacksons, who now live in Mount Holly, told their biological children not to report the physical assaults to others, saying the punishments and disciplinary techniques were justified, as they were “training” the adopted children how to behave.

If convicted, both face a maximum of 10 years in prison on each count—which include endangering the welfare of a child and assault. The charges were filed in federal court because the abuse allegedly happened while the Jacksons lived at Picatinny, an Army research installation.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, the children were malnourished and severely dehydrated, with abnormally high levels of salt in their system, when doctors saw them in 2010.

The two-year-old, whose name is not being disclosed by NJ Advance Media because of his age, died in May 2008 from what a medical examiner has determined were natural causes. Before the start of the trial, defense attorneys successfully argued that any mention of the boy’s death could inflame the jury and would be unfair to the Jacksons.

In testimony earlier this week, the 16-year-old biological son of the couple told the jury his mother regularly used the paddle and ruler to discipline his younger, adopted brother when he was too slow to get into his car seat or to climb into his chair.

“He had to get into his car seat in a certain amount of time or he would get hit with a paddle,” the teenager told jurors.

The teenager, whose name is also being withheld because he is a minor, said his parents justified their harsh discipline by pointing to passages from the Book of Proverbs.

“Foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child,” he recalled his parents telling him. “The rod of correction will drive it out.”

But in continued questioning yesterday, assistant U.S. attorney Melissa Jampol incurred the ire of the defense when she asked the teenager whether he recalled an event that occurred when his adopted brother “was alive.”

Rubin Sinins, the attorney for Carolyn Jackson, immediately called for a mistrial, arguing that the prosecutor had violated the judge’s order that the boy’s death not be disclosed, and that no instruction telling jurors to ignore the comment would override the damage that was done.

“This is a tainted jury,” Sinins told Hayden.

In her ruling yesterday morning, the judge agreed that there was no choice but to declare a mistrial.

“It’s very, very hard to believe that the defendants are not prejudiced by this,” she said. “It begs imagination and logic to believe the jurors will disregard what they know and what they learned.”

Attorneys for the Jacksons both declined comment.”

Prosecutors vow a retrial after judge declares mistrial in child abuse case of Army major[NJ.com 11/15/14 by Ted Sherman]

Update 10:“An Army major and his wife engaged in ‘a regimen of abuse and neglect’ with their three young foster children over a period of years that left the toddlers with broken bones and numerous other health problems, a federal prosecutor told a jury at the couple’s child abuse trial Monday.

John and Carolyn Jackson also forced some of the children to drink hot sauce or eat hot pepper flakes and weren’t exposed until one of their biological children reported the abuse to someone outside the family, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Shumofsky said in his opening statement.

That child, now in his teens, is expected to provide key testimony for the prosecution.

The trial marks the second go-round for the Jacksons, whose previous trial last fall ended in a mistrial when a prosecutor inadvertently referred to the fact that one of the children had died.

The judge had previously ruled that the boy’s death could not be introduced during the trial since the defendants were not charged directly with his death.

The Jacksons, who live in Mount Holly, were stationed at Picatinny Arsenal, a military installation about 40 miles west of New York City, when the abuse occurred between 2005 and 2010, according to a 15-count superseding indictment.

They had three biological children who showed no signs of abuse, Shumofsky said. But they disciplined their three foster children by withholding food and water as punishment and by hitting them with different objects, he added.

The treatment left them with bruises and injuries including, for one child, a skull fracture and spinal fracture, and for another, a broken arm.

The children were well under normal weight when they were removed from the Jackson home, Shumofsky said, including one who weighed less at nearly three years old than he did when he joined the family at 11 months old.

One of the girls had scars, marks and infections and had a dangerously high level of salt in her body that doctors said they’d never seen before in a two-year-old, Shumofsky told jurors.

Attorneys representing the Jacksons conceded that though the Jacksons’ child-rearing methods may be objectionable to some, they didn’t rise to the level of criminality.

‘You might think, `I would never raise a hand to my child,” said attorney Rubin Sinins, representing Carolyn Jackson. ‘But that doesn’t make it criminal. Because what Carolyn Jackson was doing was acting in good faith in her role as parent.’

Jackson would have had to have known that her actions would cause harm to be considered guilty, he added. ‘If you’re a crappy parent, you’re not a criminal,’ he said.

Countering photos shown by Shumofsky that showed the children with visible marks and scars, Sinins showed jurors pictures of the two girls smiling with their parents or friends in pictures taken weeks earlier.

Sinins and David Holman, representing John Jackson, both mentioned in their opening statements that while the government’s experts concluded abuse had taken place though they hadn’t treated the children, the children’s treating doctors did not reach that conclusion.”

Trial begins for Army major and wife accused of heartlessly starving and beating three young foster children for years

[Daily Mail 4/13/15 by Associated Press]

“The teenage son of a military couple charged with abusing their three foster children told a jury Tuesday that his parents used Bible passages to justify hitting the toddlers with a paddle, stick and other implements.

The “rod of correction” was one form of discipline meted out by Army Maj. John Jackson and wife Carolyn, John Jackson Jr. testified under direct questioning in U.S. District Court. The couple also forced the children, all of whom were under the age of 5, to drink hot sauce or eat hot pepper flakes as punishment, he said.

“With respect to the Bible, my parents believed that children needed to be trained in a certain way in order to behave,” he said. One passage he said they cited: “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child, but the rod of correction will drive it out.”

The trial is the second for the Jacksons. The first ended in a mistrial last fall when a prosecutor inadvertently referred to the fact that one of the children had died. The judge had previously ruled that the boy’s death could not be introduced during the trial since the defendants were not charged directly with his death.

A 15-count superseding indictment charges them with conspiracy, child endangerment and assault.

Prosecutors contend the Jacksons’ three biological children — including John Jr., now 17 and living with a foster family — showed no signs of abuse. But they allege the three foster children suffered bruises and injuries including, for one child, a skull fracture and spinal fracture and, for another child, a broken arm. They were severely underweight when they were removed from the Jackson home in 2010, the government said in its opening statement.

The Jacksons deny the charges, and their attorneys argued in their opening statements that while the couple’s parenting methods may have been objectionable, they weren’t illegal, and that the foster children had health problems when they joined the Jackson family.

Wearing a plaid shirt and jeans and avoiding looking at the defense table where his parents sat, John Jackson Jr. described telling a relative about the discipline of the foster children and saying that he “didn’t like what was going on.”

“They would get hot sauce poured down their throat or crushed red pepper or sometimes have to eat a raw onion,” he told Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Jampol.

One of the implements used to hit the children was a 12-inch-long decorative stick that was a memento of his father’s military career, he testified.

The Jacksons were living at Picatinny Arsenal in northwestern New Jersey when prosecutors say the abuse occurred from 2006 to 2010.”

Son testifies in New Jersey military child abuse case[North Jersey 5/5/15 by Associated Press]

Update 11: “A former U.S. Army major and his wife have been convicted on federal child abuse charges after physically abusing and torturing their three foster kids to the point that they suffered broken bones and sought drinking water from a toilet.

Carolyn Jackson, 37, and John E. Jackson, 40, who until May served at the Picatinny Arsenal Installation in Morris County, NJ., face years behind bars after convicted in a Newark federal court Wednesday.

John Jackson was found guilty of 10 of 13 substantive counts of endangering the welfare of a child while his wife was found guilty on 12 of 13.

The verdict follows years of abuse against the kids who were all under the age of 4 and developmentally delayed, prosecutors said.

While residing with the couple and their three biological kids, prosecutors say two of the children sustained broken bones — including fractured spines, skull and upper arms — and failed to provide prompt medical attention.

Food and water was additionally withheld from two of the kids while at other times they were forced to consume foods “intended to cause them pain and suffering,” prosecutors said.

That included red pepper flakes, hot sauce, and excessive sodium substances while deprived of water. On two separate occasions it led to life-threatening conditions.

“The Jacksons even punished one adopted child, who had to resort to sneaking food and drinking from the toilet, by hitting the child, making the child ingest hot sauce, and forcing the child to eat a raw onion like an apple,” prosecutors said.

The years of abuse was kept secret thanks to threats and their biological children told that the abuse was justified and used to train them

When one of the biological

children told someone outside the family, authorities said Carolyn Jackson beat the child 30 times with a belt.

Both face up to 10 years in prison on each of the counts as well as a maximum $250,000 fine for each count.

Sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 13.

All of the children, adoptive and biological, have been taken out of the couple’s custody. One of the children died in May 2008. Neither of the defendants was charged in that child’s death.”

Former Army major, wife convicted of abusing 3 N.J. foster kids with beatings, hot sauce and starvation[NY Daily News 7/8/15 by Nina Golgowski]

Update 12:”A former New Jersey military couple convicted of abusing their young children faces sentencing in federal court.

John and Carolyn Jackson were convicted in July on conspiracy and multiple counts of child endangerment. The counts carry maximum sentences of several decades in prison if imposed consecutively, but the Jacksons are expected to face far less time on Tuesday.[Why?]

“We are seeking a custodial sentence commensurate with the seriousness of the charges on which they were convicted,” U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Matthew Reilly said Monday.

Prosecutors presented testimony that the Jacksons’ abuse over a few years left the toddlers with broken bones and other health problems. The abuse was directed at the couple’s three foster children and not at their three biological children, the government contended.

Prosecutors said the foster children suffered injuries that included a broken arm and fractured spine, and were severely underweight when they were removed from the family home in 2010.

The Jacksons’ biological son testified the couple punished the younger children by making them eat hot pepper flakes or drink hot sauce.

John Jackson was an Army major at Picatinny Arsenal in northwestern New Jersey when the abuse occurred. He was administratively separated from the Army in April, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Defense attorneys argued during the trial that the Jacksons’ child-rearing methods might have been objectionable but they didn’t constitute crimes, and that the foster children had pre-existing health problems.

The Jacksons’ first trial in 2014 ended when the judge declared a mistrial after a prosecutor, while questioning a witness, referred to the fact that one of the children had died.

The judge had previously ruled that the boy’s death could not be introduced during the trial since the defendants were not charged directly with his death.”

Former New Jersey Military Couple Faces Sentencing in Child Abuse Case

[NBC Philadelphia 12/15/15 by AP]

“A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a former Army major to probation and his wife to two years in prison [What?Ridiculous!!!]for their convictions on multiple counts of abusing their three foster children.

The sentences amounted to a rebuke of the prosecution, which had sought 15½ to 19½ years for John and Carolyn Jackson.

In a lengthy discourse that wrapped up a marathon sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden essentially negated the jury’s guilty verdict on the top count in the indictment, that the couple had engaged in a conspiracy to abuse their children over a span of several years.

She also called out the U.S. attorney’s office for what she characterized as overreaching in its sentencing recommendation.

“Fifteen-and-a-half years for this? Really? Nineteen-and-a-half years for this? Really?” she asked. “This is not a game. This is not the Giants versus Miami. This is not, ‘How many touchdowns can you get.’”

The Jacksons were convicted in July on a total of 22 counts. Prosecutors presented evidence that the couple’s three foster children, all toddlers, were left with broken bones and other health problems and were severely underweight when they were removed from the family home in 2010.

One of the children died, although the Jacksons weren’t charged with his causing his death.

The couple’s biological son told the judge at sentencing that his parents should get the maximum punishment for abusing his younger foster siblings. His parents deserved to “suffer just as much” as their children did, he told Hayden.

The teen testified during the trial that his siblings were made to eat red pepper flakes and drink hot sauce as punishment. On Tuesday, he described watching the toddlers suffer and said the effects of the abuse “will last the rest of our lives.” It was his disclosure to a family friend that ultimately led to his parents’ arrest.

The sentencing was complicated by the fact that there are no federal sentencing guidelines for child endangerment, which is a crime normally prosecuted at the state level. The Jacksons’ case was brought in federal court because the family was living at Picatinny Arsenal in northwestern New Jersey when the abuse occurred.

Hayden rejected prosecutors’ efforts to have the sentencing reflect federal assault statutes since some of the endangerment counts were based on alleged assaults. Defense attorneys accused them of trying to use a back door to get the assault counts in at sentencing when they weren’t directly considered by the jury at trial.

In giving John Jackson probation, Hayden cited his military record and the fact that he didn’t participate directly in the abuse. She agreed that Carolyn Jackson endangered the children’s welfare, though she stopped short of endorsing the government’s depiction of her as engaging in a systematic reign of terror against the children.”

Probation, prison for ex-military pair in abuse case [Courier Post Online 12/16/15 by David Porter]

Update 13:“The U.S. attorney’s office filed an appeal of what it called the “unreasonably lenient” sentences given to a former Army major and his wife who were convicted of abusing their three young foster children for several years.

A jury last year convicted former Army Maj. John Jackson and his wife, Carolyn Jackson, on several counts. At their sentencing in December, U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden chastised prosecutors for seeking prison terms of between 15 and 20 years for them.

Instead, the judge sentenced John Jackson to probation and Carolyn Jackson to two years in prison, telling prosecutors during the hearing, “This is not a game. This is not the Giants versus Miami. This is not, ‘How many touchdowns can you get?'”

Prosecutors presented evidence during the trial that the children had suffered broken bones and other serious health problems and were severely underweight and developmentally delayed when they were removed from the family home in 2010.

An older sibling testified the children were beaten regularly and forced to eat hot pepper flakes and drink hot sauce as punishment. At sentencing, he told the judge his parents should receive the maximum punishment and deserved to “suffer just as much” as their children did.

One of the foster children died, but the Jacksons weren’t charged with causing his death and it wasn’t presented as evidence in the trial.

Prosecutors said the children’s abuse lasted for years.

“By imposing such lenient sentences, the Court trivialized these offenses, which involved the abuse, neglect, and starvation of three defenseless victims over a five-year period,” the U.S. attorney’s office wrote Thursday.

Defense attorneys argued the Jacksons’ child-rearing methods might have been objectionable to some people but weren’t criminal. They also said the foster children had serious health problems before they joined the Jackson family.

The case was brought in federal court because the Jacksons lived at Picatinny Arsenal, an Army facility about 35 miles west of New York City, during the time period covered in the indictment. That complicated the sentencing process because there are no federal sentencing guidelines for child endangerment, a crime normally prosecuted at the state level.

In its appeal, the U.S. attorney’s office argued the judge should have used sentencing guidelines for assault because the endangerment counts on which the Jacksons were convicted included allegations of assault. That presumably would have led to harsher sentences.

Defense attorneys accused the prosecution of trying to use a backdoor to get the assault allegations in at sentencing when they weren’t directly considered by the jury at trial.

Attorney Rubin Sinins, who represented Carolyn Jackson during the trial, declined to comment on the appeal Thursday.

In giving John Jackson probation, the judge cited his military record and the fact he didn’t participate directly in the abuse. She conceded Carolyn Jackson endangered the children’s welfare but disagreed with the government’s depiction of her as engaging in a systematic reign of terror against the children.”

Sentence Appealed in Child Abuse Case of Army Major, Wife [Military.com 06/17/16 by David Porter/AP]

Update 14: “A federal appeals court has ordered a new sentencing for a former Army major and his wife convicted of multiple counts of child endangerment, after prosecutors argued their initial sentences were too lenient.

A jury in 2015 convicted John and Carolyn Jackson on multiple counts, and a judge sentenced John Jackson to probation and Carolyn Jackson to two years in prison.

Prosecutors had sought sentences of between 15 and 20 years. During the sentencing, U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden chastised them, saying, “This is not a game. This is not the Giants versus Miami. This is not, ‘How many touchdowns can you get?'”

The appeals court wrote Thursday that the judge made several errors at sentencing, and it called the sentences “substantively unreasonable.”

The Jacksons lived at Picatinny Arsenal, in western New Jersey, with their biological and foster children.

Prosecutors presented evidence that the foster children had suffered broken bones and other serious health problems and were severely underweight and developmentally delayed when they were removed from the family home in 2010.

An older sibling testified the children were beaten regularly and were forced to eat hot pepper flakes and drink hot sauce as punishment. At sentencing, he told the judge his parents should receive the maximum punishment and deserved to “suffer just as much” as their children did.

One of the foster children died, but the Jacksons weren’t charged with causing his death and it wasn’t presented as evidence in the trial.

Defense attorneys argued the Jacksons’ child-rearing methods might have been unconventional but weren’t criminal. They also said the foster children had serious health problems before they joined the Jackson family.

An attorney for Carolyn Jackson didn’t return an email seeking comment Thursday. John Jackson was represented by the federal public defender’s office, which didn’t return a phone message.

___

This story has been corrected to show that a jury in 2015 convicted John and Carolyn Jackson on multiple counts, and a judge sentenced John Jackson to probation and Carolyn Jackson to two years in prison.”

Court Orders Resentencing in Military Child Abuse Case
[Us News 7/6/17 by AP]
Update 15:“A former Army major and his wife convicted of abusing their young foster children over several years are due back in court for a resentencing after their original sentence was thrown out for being too lenient.

Update 16:“An ex-military couple convicted of abusing their young foster children received additional punishment on Thursday during a resentencing prompted by an appeals court’s ruling that their initial sentences were insufficient and didn’t properly apply federal guidelines.

Still, the sentences fell far short of those sought by the government in a case that combined horrific allegations of abuse, heart-wrenching testimony during two trials and legal issues the sentencing judge conceded Thursday were “quirkier, odder and more difficult” than any she’d encountered.

U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden sentenced Carolyn Jackson to 40 months in prison and her husband, ex-Army Maj. John Jackson, to three years’ probation. Both were convicted on multiple counts of child endangerment in 2015.

At their initial sentencing that year, the judge disregarded the government’s recommendation for sentences of 15 years for John Jackson and 19 years for Carolyn Jackson and sentenced him to probation and her to two years in prison. That was struck down by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year, prompting the resentencing, which took up all of Wednesday and Thursday. Prosecutors had sought similar sentences again.

The judge noted that her task of parsing which of the couple’s actions contributed to which of the children’s injuries was one that could have been handled by the jury in 2015, if prosecutors hadn’t removed that requirement from the jury instructions.

In a lengthy and methodical hearing, the judge discounted much of the trial testimony by government experts and gave more weight to defense experts who had cast doubt on the connection between the beatings alleged by prosecutors and the children’s injuries. She also portrayed the family far less harshly than did prosecutors.

“There was no drugs, no sex, no satanic cult. There is no motivation that would suggest a crazy set of beliefs marked by symbols or strange outfits or nighttime covens,” she said. “Here is a family of deeply held religious beliefs. There is a woman home-schooling her children, and there is a man in the military.”

Defense attorneys argued the Jacksons’ child-rearing methods might have been unconventional but weren’t criminal. They also said the foster children had serious health problems before they joined the family.

U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito said he was disappointed by the sentences.

“This is a case where the victims were children, horribly abused by the foster parents to whom they were entrusted,” he said. “A punishment that was severe, but fair, was warranted.”

Both Jacksons will be credited for time served.

Prosecutors presented evidence at trial that the couple regularly beat the three toddlers and denied them food, water and medical care. Two of the children were forced to drink hot sauce and eat hot pepper flakes as punishment and were denied water afterward, prosecutors said.

The children suffered broken bones and were severely underweight and had other health problems when they were removed from the home in 2010. One of the children died, but the couple weren’t charged with his death.

One of the couple’s former foster daughters, now 12, said in court Wednesday that she remembered being “hit and punished constantly.”

Since the Jacksons lived at the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal facility in New Jersey, they were tried in federal court. Because child endangerment isn’t a federal crime, state endangerment charges were merged into the federal indictment to go along with a conspiracy count and two assault counts.

Prosecutors argued the judge should sentence the Jacksons under federal assault guidelines for the child endangerment counts because the nature of the offenses made them “sufficiently analogous” to assault. Defense attorneys disagreed and argued the couple “can’t be tried for one crime and sentenced for another.”

More prison time for ex-Army mother in child abuse case

[MSN 4/13/18 by AP/David Porter]

Update 17:“A convicted former Army major and his wife who prosecutors said routinely beat their young foster children and denied them food and water will be sentenced for a third time, after a federal appeals court ruled the trial judge again failed to adequately address the seriousness of their crimes.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling last month sent the case back to the same federal judge in New Jersey who sentenced John and Carolyn Jackson twice previously, in 2015 and 2018. Both have now been struck down at the appellate level.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers have through mid-November to file pre-sentencing briefs, under an order issued this week by U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden.

The 2015 trial produced testimony that the Jacksons’ three foster children suffered broken bones and were severely underweight and had other health problems when they were removed from the home in 2010. The couple’s biological son testified the couple forced the children to eat hot pepper flakes and drink hot sauce as punishment.

One of the children suffered injuries including a fractured skull, a broken arm and a fractured spine.

A fourth foster child in their care died, but the Jacksons weren’t charged with his death. At trial, the Jacksons’ lawyers argued that the children had pre-existing health problems, and said the couple’s child-rearing methods were unconventional but not criminal.

John Jackson received probation and Carolyn Jackson was sentenced to two years at the first sentencing, stunning prosecutors who had sought prison terms of 15 years or longer. At the second sentencing, Hayden extended John Jackson’s sentence to three years of probation and Carolyn Jackson’s to more than three years. Both received credit for time served.

Sentencing was complicated by the fact that the trial took place in federal court since the Jacksons lived at Picatinny Arsenal, a New Jersey military facility, during the time of the alleged abuse. Because child endangerment is not a federal crime, state endangerment charges were merged into the federal indictment to go along with a conspiracy count and two assault counts.

The Jacksons were acquitted of the assault counts, but prosecutors argued Hayden should sentence them under federal assault guidelines anyway because the nature of the child endangerment counts made them “sufficiently analogous” to assault.

Lawyers for the couple argued prosecutors didn’t connect specific acts by the Jacksons to injuries the children suffered.

The appeals court disagreed, writing last month that Hayden’s decision to give more weight to expert testimony supporting the Jacksons “turned the preponderance of the evidence standard on its head.”

“On review, we have concluded that the government adequately proved that several of the children’s serious injuries were in fact caused by the Jacksons,” the court wrote.

The U.S. attorney’s office, which prosecuted the case, declined comment Tuesday, as did an attorney representing Carolyn Jackson. A message was left with an attorney representing John Jackson. ”

Ex-military couple faces 3rd sentencing in child abuse case

[Army Times 8/12/2020 by David Porter,AP]

Update 18:: “A former Army major and his wife who prosecutors said routinely beat their young foster children and denied them food and water as punishment avoided more prison time Wednesday, the third sentencing in the long-running case after federal appeals courts struck down the first two for being too lenient.

U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden, the same jurist who presided over John and Carolyn Jackson’s 2015 trial and sentenced them two previous times, concluded the day-long sentencing by reasoning that imposing more prison time “is more punishment than is necessary.”

Carolyn Jackson, who has already served a 40-month prison term in two stretches, was sentenced Wednesday to time served and given an additional year of supervised release. John Jackson, who has finished a probationary term, was sentenced to 18 months’ home confinement.

In 2015, the U.S. attorney’s office sought prison sentences of 15 years or more after the couple was convicted on multiple counts of child endangerment. After the first sentencing was struck down, Hayden extended their sentences in 2018, but that was rejected on appeal as well.

On Wednesday, prosecutors had recommended a sentencing range of between nine and 11 years. They registered an objection to Hayden’s ruling, calling the sentences insufficient and accusing her of not following guidelines set by the appeals court.

The U.S. attorney’s office didn’t immediately comment Wednesday.

Sentencing in the case has been complicated by the fact that the trial took place in federal court since the Jacksons lived at Picatinny Arsenal, a New Jersey military facility, during the time in question. Because child endangerment is not a federal crime, state endangerment charges were merged into the federal indictment to go along with a conspiracy count and two federal assault counts.

The Jacksons were acquitted of the assault counts, but prosecutors argued Hayden should sentence them under assault guidelines anyway because the nature of the child endangerment counts made them “sufficiently analogous” to assault. Defense attorneys argued prosecutors didn’t connect specific acts by the Jacksons to injuries the children suffered.

On Wednesday, Hayden largely appeared unswayed by the prosecution’s arguments, declining to draw direct lines between most of the couple’s actions — such as administering hot sauce — and the children’s injuries. She also cast doubt on trial testimony by the Jacksons’ biological son about witnessing the abuse, which was a key part of the prosecution’s case.

The Jacksons made “misguided and harmful choices,” Hayden said, but added she didn’t believe the evidence showed “that the Jackson are monsters.”

The Jacksons’ trial produced testimony that their three foster children suffered broken bones and were severely underweight and had other health problems when they were removed from the home in 2010. The couple’s biological son testified the couple forced the children to eat hot pepper flakes and drink hot sauce as punishment.

A fourth foster child in their care died, but the Jacksons weren’t charged with his death. At trial, the Jacksons’ lawyers argued that the children had pre-existing health problems, and said the couple’s child-rearing methods may have been unconventional but weren’t criminal.”

Ex-Army Couple Avoids More Prison Time in NJ Foster Child Abuse Case
[NBC NY 10/7/21 by AP]

Update 19:” A former U.S. Army major and his wife accused of routinely beating their young foster children and denying them food and water as punishment have been sentenced for a fourth time.

Carolyn Jackson was ordered Monday to serve nearly 12 years in prison, while her husband, John, was sentenced to 9 years. The terms were imposed by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton, who was assigned to the case in April after a federal appeals court found U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden — who had handled the previous three sentencings — failed to follow its directions to consider the children’s multiple injuries “holistically and in the context of the jury’s findings of guilt” in determining causation.

Federal prosecutors had appealed each of the sentences imposed by Hayden, arguing they were too lenient. Noting the repeated sentencings, the appellate panel also concluded that Hayden — who presided over the Jacksons’ 2015 trial — would have “substantial difficulty in putting out of her mind her previously expressed views of the evidence,” so they ordered that the matter be reassigned to another jurist.

The last sentencing in the case occurred in October 2021. Carolyn Jackson, who had already served a 40-month prison term in two stretches, was sentenced to time served and given an additional year of supervised release. John Jackson, who had finished a probationary term, was sentenced to 18 months’ home confinement.

At the time, Hayden concluded that imposing more prison time “is more punishment than is necessary.” Prosecutors, who had recommended a sentencing range of between nine and 11 years, called the sentences insufficient and accused Hayden of not following guidelines set by the appeals court.

In 2015, the U.S. attorney’s office had sought prison sentences of 15 years or more after the couple was convicted on multiple counts of child endangerment. After the first sentencing was struck down, Hayden extended their sentences in 2018, but that was rejected on appeal as well.

Sentencing in the case has been complicated by the fact that the trial took place in federal court since the Jacksons lived at Picatinny Arsenal, a New Jersey military facility, during the time in question. Because child endangerment is not a federal crime, state endangerment charges were merged into the federal indictment to go along with a conspiracy count and two federal assault counts.

The Jacksons were acquitted of the assault counts, but prosecutors argued Hayden should sentence them under assault guidelines anyway because the nature of the child endangerment counts made them “sufficiently analogous” to assault. Defense attorneys argued prosecutors didn’t connect specific acts by the Jacksons to injuries the children suffered.

The Jacksons’ trial produced testimony that their three foster children suffered broken bones, were severely underweight and had other health problems when they were removed from the home in 2010. The couple’s biological son testified the couple forced the children to eat hot pepper flakes and drink hot sauce as punishment.

A fourth foster child in their care died, but the Jacksons weren’t charged with his death. At trial, the Jacksons’ lawyers argued that the children had preexisting health problems, and said the couple’s child-rearing methods may have been unconventional but weren’t criminal.”

Ex-military couple hit with longer prison time in 4th sentencing in child abuse case
[AP 10/31/23]