A child at the center of a disturbing case of starvation and torture reportedly resorted to sucking insulation from the walls in an attempt to get water.
Kentucky couple Mary Hall and Jerome Norman have each been sentenced to 20 years in prison after authorities uncovered the extent of the abuse. Investigators found that several children had been confined to a room with boarded-up windows and a lock installed on the outside, according to reports.
Hall had taken in three children after their mother—her sister—died in a car crash in 2018. She later entered a relationship with Norman in 2023. Authorities arrested them in 2025 after one child showed “signs of torture,” as reported by WYMT and the Lexington Herald Leader. The case follows another separate and disturbing incident in which parents reportedly laughed as their burned, beaten, and abused 9-day-old baby died. Kentucky State Police launched their investigation after noticing a child in the home had bruises “here and there.”
The boy later returned to school after winter break with “chipped teeth and a busted nose.”
“He said that he’s been packing wood and riding his bike, but he would not say how he was injured,” the complaint stated, as reported by WYMT. “Mary was asked about his nose and teeth. She stated that they’ve been packing wood and has been out playing. She said he could have done it in his sleep.”
Although the child reportedly “never disclosed abuse,” the warrant stated that at times he was “not allowed to eat at home due to discipline,” and teachers observed that he would often “gorge himself when he eats at school.”
Hall and Norman each received 20-year sentences for one count of first-degree criminal child abuse and five years for each count of second-degree child abuse. The sentences will run concurrently, resulting in a total of 20 years, according to WYMT.
Amber Hunt, the attorney appointed as the children’s guardian ad litem, said the children endured severe physical abuse and psychological trauma.
“Food is a basic human right. It is not a punishment,” Hunt said. “You cannot take food away from a child because the child acts in a way you don’t agree with. They were tortured with food.”
Continuing her testimony, Hunt said the oldest child “sucked the insulation in the walls to get water” and survived on baby rice mixed with water.
Both defendants must serve 85% of their sentences before becoming eligible for parole.
“Not only did they lose their mother, they also lost their father,” said Bill Slone, Pike County Commonwealth’s Attorney. “Their father was convicted of some type of manslaughter and went to prison.”
“Imagine being a child who is hurt by the people who are meant to protect you,” Olivia Dotson, an employee of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, told the court. “These children are not serving a sentence; they are living one.”
Dotson also said the oldest child had been hospitalized five times, including one stay lasting two and a half months.
The case follows another incident in Colorado in which a father allegedly killed his 13-year-old son after the child discovered disturbing images.
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