Delaware Woman Sentenced to 106 Years for Torture of Sons: 'Extensive and Persistent Evil'

A Delaware woman was sentenced to 106 years in prison for torturing her 
two stepsons alongside their father.

The Delaware Attorney General’s office announced in a news release on 
Thursday that Mary Vinson, 46, was sentenced by a Superior Court judge to 
106 years in prison after pleading guilty to several felony charges of 
child abuse, attempted child abuse, kidnapping, attempted assault and 
endangering the welfare of a child, among other charges.

Her husband, Charles Vinson, 37, also received 49 years in prison for 
charges including child abuse, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a 
child, act of intimidation and conspiracy.

According to the attorney general’s office, the couple’s children — one 
was 10 and the other was between 11 and 13 during the abuse — were 
“violently and repetitively” physically assaulted by the couple. The acts 
of abuse were captured on video by “cameras the parents placed in the 
children’s room.”

Some of the forms of abuse the children had to endure included standing 
for long periods of time and being force fed or not fed at all. As a 
result, the children were “hospitalized several times.”

“These children went through hell,” Attorney General Kathy Jennings said 
in a statement. “Now they never have to worry about their abusers again.”

“Even when these cases are strong, they are not easy,” Jennings continued. 
“The facts are chilling. Knowing what these children experienced weighs on 
all of us. But knowing that they are safe now is why we do this work. I’m 
grateful to the prosecutors and law enforcement who rescued them from this 
torture.”

According to the Associated Press, prosecutors alleged in court that the 
two children had been abused over the course of 20 months beginning in 
early 2020. The Division of Family Services eventually took custody of 
children in October 2021 after they were hospitalized several times for 
severe malnutrition.

During the sentencing hearing, Mary argued in court that she “didn’t want 
to hurt” the children. Per the AP, “It didn’t start out that way,” she 
said, adding, “I loved those boys like they were my own.”

Charles’ attorneys, meanwhile, argued that he had been manipulated by his 
wife into harming his kids and “admits that he failed his sons,” the 
outlet reported.

Mary faced a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison and a maximum of 444 
years, while her husband faced between 10 to 158 years in prison, 
according to the AP. The Vinson’s defense attorneys requested for their 
clients to receive the minimum sentence, which was denied by Superior 
Court Judge Jeffrey Clarke.

During the sentencing, Clarke called the crime “the most extensive and 
persistent evil” act he had ever seen, the AP reported. “It will be 
impossible for them to forget the evil done to them,” the judge said, per 
the outlet. “They will carry this with them for the rest of their lives.”