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Stephanie Angelette Duncan, 43, of Lebanon, was sentenced on Wednesday for “prolonged abuse and torture" at her home located on the 2700 block of Cedar Run Road, according to District Attorney Pier Hess Graf.
Judge Bradford H. Charles sentenced the adoptive mother for the prolonged assault and abuse of the five children between the ages of 6 and 15, according to Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf.
She'll see a minimum of 17 years in prison before she is eligible for parole, and a maximum of 47 years, according to a press release by Graf.
She is also barred from having contact for any reason with any child for the next 47 years, according to the release.
"Should the Defendant have contact with children, the Court urged the State Parole Board to incarcerate her for the balance of her natural life," as stated in the release.
“ The level of abuse, torture and emotional neglect the Defendants inflicted is beyond comprehension. Instead of viewing each child as the ultimate gift, the Defendants utilized them as a financial tool that existed solely for their gain and profit," the DA said.
"The Hershey Medical Center and its Child Protection Team deserve praise and thanks. Without their efforts, one child would have died and the siblings left in the despicable hands of the Defendants,” said DA Graf.
The investigation into Duncan began after she drove her eleven-year-old son to the Hershey Medical Center by "his physical condition was so fire so dire 911 operators directed her to stop the vehicle and place the child into an ambulance," according to the release.
Ambulance workers found the boy unresponsive and hypothermic with abnormally low blood pressure, according to the release.
Test results showed the child had low potassium levels, an electrolyte disturbance, and an excessive amount of sodium. His body was also covered in bruises on his neck, shoulders, back, abdomen, hip, and genitals, the release states citing hospital reports.
Prior to the investigation Duncan claimed the child was prone to self-injury and "insinuated the child caused his own condition," the DA said.
Detectives learned the child's bedroom consisted of only a mattress on bare concrete where they suffered abusive involving food deprivation, beatings, strangulation, having bleached poured on them and much more, according to the release.
All of the children have been out of the Duncan's custody since Jan. 15, according to the DA.
The children revealed that all of their bedrooms contained video cameras, which helped provide evidence in the case, which is detailed in a statement on the DA's Facebook page.
"The children requested years in jail but did not want him to receive the same sentence as their mother. They settled on a period of years in state prison, which R. Duncan ultimately accepted," as stated in the release.
Both parents pleaded guilty hoping for the court to show mercy unlike what they should to their adoptive children, the release concluded.
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