Mom, two adult kids jailed for torture

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July 14 (UPI) -- A Canadian woman and two of her adult children have been sentenced to prison terms for the torture of a mentally handicapped woman in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Thelma Hendrickson, 62, was sentenced to one year in jail for her role in the case that began in February 2006 when a 21-year-old woman with the mental capacity of a 12-year-old moved into her home.

The court heard her son, Dale Hendrickson, 24, and his sister April Armstrong, 33, resented the woman's presence and began a four-month campaign of physical abuse, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.

The son was sentenced to six years in prison while his sister got a five-year-sentence as the judge admonished them for their behavior, the Winnipeg Sun reported.

"Neither of you showed an ounce of human decency toward her," Judge Kelly Moar said in Monday's sentencing.

The court heard the siblings snuffed out cigarettes on the young woman's body, heated a fork on the stove to burn her, pushed her down stairs and pulled out her hair in clumps.

The victim was rescued when a cousin reported her missing, the reports said. Police found the emaciated woman, who lost about 100 pounds during the ordeal, with two black eyes and cuts, bruises and scars all over her body, the court was told.