Burke mom of 11 gets alternate weekends in jail for 10 years

It saddens me to think this mother would blame the father entirely for this situation. She is a grown woman who had 11 children. And she considered herself a victim?? I'm not excusing the father or saying that he was a perfect husband by any means, but to lay the blame of the children's condition on one parent is ridiculous. I honestly believe she could have gotten help for her and the children if she had really wanted it. It amazes me how many people can play the victim role instead of taking personal responsibility for their actions. It is going to take years for these children to adapt to normal surroundings, if at all.

I have great compassion for the children and the horrid conditions they were forced to endure. Both parents should be held accountable for this abuse.

Of course she has blame in this issue. Could she not have tried somehow to seek help. Seems as though by the media she adjusted to the conditions and did not care or is there a touch of mental delay in the receptors of her alertness to the attention of the children. The father was not there 24/7. so what?

What kind of sentence is this? What a DOUBLE standard! The poor kids are the losers.

Just say yes to government mandated sterilization.

Something about this whole case just stinks and has from the very beginning. When this all began, the mother made no such claims against her husband, but after being in the hands of the Burke Co. Sheriff's office, aided by the Baptist church, little wonder the fowl aroma of mendacity in the air. Somebody is lying about this case. This kind of thing always happens when election time rolls around. The sheriff's office always finds some poor slob to make a case against which shows the public what a good job they are doing here. What laws did they break exactly? There is no law compelling people to send their children to school if they are home schooled. No law against immunizations if you as the parent object to them on religious or moral grounds. No law against preventing your children from socializing with the masses. The children certainly weren't sexually abused, which came as a bitter disappointment to the government officials. At least they weren't on the public dole. I guess the only truly unforgivable crime this family committed was to be poor and white.

They both should have gotten harsher sentences. Those poor children!

Those children should be given to people that want and love children that will love and care for them and will not treat them like animals. There are too many people out there that cant have children.

The "poor children"...I live in the county where this occured and I'm telling you there is more to this than the public hanging by the news media and the press. Don't you people realize that all it takes for a person to be convicted in the court of public opinion is to mention child abuse or sexual abuse and lord almighty if you have the two together then case closed. Try thinking...it is neither painful nor fatal. Yes, the poor children..the poor family! The government came a knocking and has once again destroyed a family because they know better how to raise your kids than you do. This same government acted in Ruby Ridge and Waco because of "the children." It may come as a surprise to many of you that you can't believe everything you read in the newsaper or hear on the news just because someone in authority tells you its so. I'm wasting my breath. Go on and sleep Augusta.

The headline says 10 years incarceration. The article says 2 years incarceration. Which one is it?

1677; Actually the headline says "alternate weekends for 10 years and the article says 2 years that will take almost 16 years to complete. If she got 2 years that's 730 days. Alternate weekends would mean she would spend 52 days a year in jail. 730 divided by 52 is 14. Screwy, huh?

This is a sad case.... more of tax payers money I guess welfare was too good for these people with 11 children and they had both mother and father in the home. so now we have 11 children that needs foster care. sad story!!

There is the strong possibility the facts showed that she really is a victim and not just considering herself to be a victim. That is probably why she got such a light sentence. As far as getting help, it doesn't sound like she had the mobility or resources to travel, call or email to get help. If you are in a rural area, no phone, no transportation, no internet, no network of friends, family, or co-workers, how exactly do you "get help" if you even know there is any out there? Only three of the children knew how to read, do the parents?

She should have sought help when this first started getting out of hand....not 18 years and 11 children later! I'm sorry, but she is no victim here....the children are. At some point people have to be responsible for themselves instead of blaming their hard times on everyone but themselves. My heart goes out to these poor children. No one can begin to imagine how this will affect them the rest of their lives.

Oh, so you know exactly when things started getting out of hand...apparently 18 years and 11 children before now! according to you. If you knew when it all started why didn't YOU do something about it? Of course you don't know, so why so judgmental? The children are victims, but apparently there was enough evidence to show that the mother was, at least to some degree, also a victim. People should be responsible, of course, but how do you know she wasn't already doing everything within her power? You weren't there, so, you can't possibly know. I don't think you were sitting in the courtroom either, to gather ALL the facts they have at their disposal. I wasn't either, so I'm not saying she should have done this or that, none of us know what we would do if abused until it happens. My heart goes out to those children, too, because it WILL affect them for the rest of their lives. I would like you to consider, too, women often end up with men who remind them of the homes they grew up in. This might have been the only emotional climate she had ever known, so what kind of parental mentors did she have to learn from? The cycle hopefully will start now, which is better than never.

You have GOT to be kidding me? If you were in a situation like that wouldn't you do something to get yourself and your children help? I don't believe this woman had NO ONE she could turn to. Not in today's world. There are too many services available for those in need. If someone REALLY needs or wants help, it's out there. She wasn't on a deserted island....there was a landlord and apparently neighbors not too far away. The victim role still doesn't apply, in my opinion.

People can say they know what they WILL do in a given situation, but in reality they only know what they THINK, HOPE, WISH, or PLAN to do. When the real thing happens, sometimes there is another factor you weren't able to anticipate, which alters this. The best thing to do ideally is end a relationship at the first signs of abuse, usually verbal abuse, but the variables are far from ideal. Not everyone is trained to know what those signs are and sometimes they are subtle. Some spouses go for years verbally beating down their spouses before they ever lift a physically threatening hand. By the time the physical abuse starts the spouse may have little will and self-confidence left to fight. We should teach children the signs, so they ward off destructive relationships before they are entrenched in them. Bullying, isolating, intimidating, vindictiveness, are some of the signs.

I just read your 9:07 pm post, no I am not kidding. Of course I would get help in some form, but I sure would be careful about it and discreet. My father was a counselor so at least I know what signs to look for. Getting help is not always leaving the spouse (or relationship) either. Sometimes counseling or therapy does work, but only if the abusive spouse faces that he or she has a problem. Do you think that a man that wants the children to think the neighbors will burn them, encourages his wife to trust anyone enough to confide in him or her? He was building isolating walls around her and she was building them around their children, following his example. That isolation and the threat of violence combine to make it very difficult for an abused person to leave his or her spouse. She is at least in some degree a victim, but not entirely or she wouldn't be spending time in jail. Reality is not black and white.