A North Carolina white couple accused of performing exorcisms on their adopted children will spend decades in prison after pleading guilty to the murder and abuse of their 4-year-old son, who was malnourished and restrained face down on the floor with a bedsheet and duct tape for hours before his death.
Joseph Paul Wilson, 45, and Jodi Ann Wilson, 42, pleaded guilty Wednesday, July 8, in Surry County Superior Court to second-degree murder and child abuse-related charges in connection with the 2023 death of Skyler Wilson, according to court records reviewed by PEOPLE.
Both were sentenced to approximately 32 to 40 years in prison, according to the court records. They also waived their rights to appeal their convictions and sentences as part of their plea agreements.
The Wilsons were accused of performing exorcisms on Skyler and one of his siblings, according to the Mount Airy News and search warrants obtained by WFMY.
The diabolical couple used disciplinary methods they learned from books about alternative parenting practices for adopted children, according to a statement from the Surry County District Attorney’s Office shared with the Mount Airy News.
“However, the investigation further revealed that the practices used by the Wilsons exceeded the practices in the books by escalating to the use of duct tape and prolonged physical restraint of Skyler,” the statement said.
On Jan. 5, 2023, Jodi wrapped Skyler in a bedsheet and used duct tape to restrain him face down on the floor of the family’s Mount Airy home for several hours, according to the DA’s statement.
Joseph knew Skyler was restrained and had purchased duct tape and Ace bandages earlier that day for the purpose of restraining him, the statement said. When Joseph returned home from work for lunch and found Skyler restrained, he did not release the child and instead returned to work, according to the statement.
After Jodi eventually released Skyler and realized he was seriously injured, she messaged her husband, “Hurry home, I think I have hurt him,” the statement said.
Joseph later called 911 and reported that Skyler was having a seizure, according to search warrants obtained by WXII. A detective said a woman could be heard in the background of the call saying, “It’s my fault,” per The Mount Airy News.
Emergency medical personnel found Skyler unresponsive and took him to Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem, according to the search warrants. He died four days later, on Jan. 9, after being removed from life support, according to the DA’s statement.
An autopsy determined that Skyler died from a hypoxic-ischemic brain injury caused by compressional and positional asphyxia resulting from prolonged physical restraint, according to a statement from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Starvation ketoacidosis was a contributing factor, with the DA’s office saying Skyler was undernourished and therefore less able to survive the prolonged restraint.
A former foster parent reported concerns about Skyler’s treatment to the Surry County Department of Social Services less than a month before his death, according to the statement. Other children living in the Wilson home were later placed in DSS custody, according to WFMY and WXII.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
Source: https://people.com/parents-sentenced-in-4-year-old-s-murder-12016135
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