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AMES, IA -In what is being hailed as a precedent-setting
decision, 18-month-old Eli Johnson was sentenced to four years
in state prison by a jury after admitting to perjury, making
false statements to police officers and failing to prove child
abuse at the hands of parents Roger and Lois.
"It's a bittersweet decision though we're obviously
relieved," said the parents in a written statement after
being acquitted on all counts of child neglect, child endangerment
and felony battery and assault. "We are thrilled the
jury decided to believe our story and not the babbling lies
of a little baby. This definitely reaffirms our faith in the
justice system."
The Johnsons, who were outraged when neighbors first alerted
social services of alleged violence against their son and
even more astonished when the toddler himself made false statements
accusing them of unprovoked spankings, "time-outs,"
and forced nappy time when Eli wanted to watch TV, finally
felt vindicated by the decision.
"You have no idea what we had to put up with every single
day with that boy," Lois Johnson said. "We were
tortured from dusk to dawn by screaming fits and hair-pulling—and
that was on a good day. He vandalized our house repeatedly.
He broke expensive china and antiques and we were never reimbursed.
The sentence is fair."
"The jury just didn't buy Eli's histrionics and crocodile
tears during the trial," lawyer Jerry Cutler said."And
the police report was clearly a poor forgery, meant to humiliate
the parents when everyone knows they did their best they could
with a little liar like Eli."
"We just want to get on with our lives, father Roger
said. "It's going to take a hell of a lot of therapy
but eventually we'll rebuild our shattered lives."
Eli, through lawyers, agreed to a reduced
sentence in exchange for truthful testimony, admission of
wrongdoing and the return of his "binky" and "bah
bah."
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