How Could You? Hall of Shame-Mary Hall and Jerome Norman

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 Pike County, Kentucky, kinship foster care mother Mary Hall and her boyfriend Jerome Norman were “sentenced to 20 years in jail for criminal child abuse after they starved and tortured three children in their custody.

In January 2025, Mary Hall and Jerome Norman were both arrested and charged with abuse after a child in their care showed “signs of torture,” WYMT and the Lexington Herald Leader reported at the time.”

“According to a complaint warrant, the Kentucky State Police were informed of a child who had bruises “here and there” in December 2024, after which he returned to school following winter break with “chipped teeth and a busted nose.””

“While the child allegedly “never disclosed abuse,” the warrant stated that there were times the child was “not allowed to eat at home due to discipline” and that teachers noticed that he’d often “gorge himself when he eats at school.”

Over a year after Hall and Norman were arrested and subsequently indicted, they were both sentenced to 20 years in jail for one count of first-degree criminal child abuse and five years for each count of second-degree child abuse, to run concurrently for a total of 20 years, per WYMT. Each defendant must serve 85% of their sentence before they are eligible for parole.

During the sentencing, prosecutors explained that Hall took over guardianship of her sister’s children after she died in a 2018 car crash. She later moved to Pike County with the three children under her care in 2023 when she began a relationship with Norman. ”

“Dotson also alleged that the oldest child had been hospitalized five times, with one stay lasting two and a half months.

Amber Hunt, an attorney appointed as the children’s guardian ad litem, also claimed that the children suffered extreme physical abuse and mental trauma.

“Food is a basic human right. It is not a punishment,” Hunt said. “You cannot take food away from a child because the child acts in a way you don’t agree with. They were tortured with food.”

“Going on to claim that the oldest child “sucked the insulation in the walls to get water” and that he was forced to eat baby rice with water, Hunt requested that the court to impose the “maximum sentence possible” during the sentencing.

While Norman denied abusing the children, his defense attorney, Jeff Lovely, said he acknowledged that he should have sought treatment for them.

“Never has a case affected me as much as this one,” Slone concluded in court. “They were not drug addicts. There were no drugs in the house. This was done with a clear mind. It was intentional.”

Tortured Boy ‘Sucked’ Insulation in Walls to Get Water. Caregivers Sentenced to 20 Years for Criminal Child Abuse of 3 Kids
[People 4/27/26 by Desiree Anello]

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