A Florida mother has learned her fate after allegedly allowing her boyfriend to beat her 5-year-old son, resulting in 46 injuries.
Taylor Schaefer was sentenced to 60 years in prison during a trial on Friday, March 6, after pleading guilty to 25 counts, including child abuse, kidnapping and witness tampering, according to a statement released by the 7th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The investigation into the case began in May 2023 when Schaefer said she saw her boyfriend, Shawn Stoneabusing a child with a video surveillance at home when he is not at home.
In the photo, Stone is accused of punching the boy and hitting him with a mop after he accidentally peed on the bed.
The state attorney’s office said medical experts examined the boy and found 46 apparent injuries following the attack, including a fractured skull.
Detectives later found multiple recordings of the abuse and concluded that Schaefer was home when it happened. However, authorities said she failed to seek medical attention for her son despite his apparent injuries, according to WKMG, WFTV and WFLA.
In addition, the videos show the boy being left alone in the house for hours with his hands tied behind his back. The detectives also said that the child is sometimes locked inside the dog cage and deprived of food as a form of punishment at different times.
“You look at it, and it makes your stomach churn and you think, ‘How could you do this?'” Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood he said of the images depicting the abuse, per WKMG. “I’m speechless, I’ve been working in the police for 36 years and I’m speechless when I watch those videos…
Chitwood added that he felt it was “very good that there was an ending [Schaefer and Stone] to rot in their prison cells” and said they “steal the future of those children.”
The sheriff’s office said one 9-year-old child was also tortured and forced to drink boiling water, sprayed with boiling water and beaten with other household items, according to WKMG. Meanwhile, authorities said a 7-year-old child did not receive proper care due to his critical health condition while living in the home.
“A mother’s sacred duty is to love and protect her children – not to beat them cruelly, abuse them and humiliate them,” said the State Attorney. RJ Larizza of the 7th Judicial Circuit said in a press release. “It is a sad truth that some mothers commit acts of violence and disgraceful cruelty to their children.”
The state attorney’s office said charges against Stone are pending. It is not yet clear whether he has filed or retained legal representation.
He was charged with aggravated child abuse and 23 additional counts ranging from repeated acts of abuse and neglect, according to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office.
