Iowa couple who starved adoptive 16-year-old daughter to death to spend the rest of their lives in prison
An Iowa couple who was previously convicted in the starvation death of their 16-year-old adopted daughter who was found "malnourished, emaciated, and diaper-clad" will likely be spending the rest of their lives in prison.
According to the Daily Mail, 41-year-old Misty Jo Bousman Ray was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty on January 9 to one count of first-degree kidnapping in the May 2017 death of Sabrina Ray and two counts of third-degree kidnapping involving two other adopted children who were living with her at her Perry home.
Her husband, 43-year-old Marc Ray, was sentenced to 80 years in prison after pleading guilty to child endangerment causing death and three counts of third-degree kidnapping. Both were also ordered to pay restitution, including $150,000 each to the heirs of Sabrina.
The court heard the gruesome details of the torture the pair, who ran a daycare center called Rays of Sunshine Daycare, put the children through at their home, and which led to Sabrina's death.
Having taken in Sabrina as a foster child in 2011 before adopting her in 2013, they would put the teen, as well as her other three siblings through unthinkable abuse.
When officers arrived at their home in May 2017, they found her adopted sisters in a room with her lifeless body. She was found to weigh just 56 pounds.
In a report that was read out to the court in December, an officer called the residence "the most horrific scene in my entire career and life," with another saying "It is hard to put into words the feelings that come over me — the smells, the pain, the anguish, the fear, and the evil."
Speaking at the hearing, prosecutor Stacy Ritchie said, "Rather than love and care for these girls, the defendant locked them in a room, starved them, abused them, pitted them against each other, denied them basic necessities and used them as slave labor."
The Des Moines Register reported that while handing out their sentence at a Dallas County courtroom, Judge Terry Rickers criticized the couple and recounted the horrific conditions at the home further, saying, "Sabrina lies there, malnourished, emaciated, diaper-clad, covered in various wounds and bruises. Her rash and skin barely cover her skeleton. Mr. Ray and Mrs. Ray, your actions and your treatments of your daughters, in this case, could be fairly described as both cruel and evil."
Victim statements from the children that were read out by representatives were equally heart-wrenching. "You should have fed me. You should have given me something to drink," one read, while another said, "You caused so much trauma that I have flashbacks and nightmares. I have cut myself; I have run away; I have tried to tie shoestrings around my neck."
Both defendants were pictured crying at the trial, with the mother expressing regret for her actions. "It was my responsibility to protect and love our children and not cause them pain," she said. "I failed as their mother. All of this is my fault, and I want our children to know that they did nothing wrong. They were good kids who deserve better. I am so sorry."
Prosecutors revealed that the two other girls and a boy who were living with the Rays are now thriving.