POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – A judge in a Broward County courtroom found alleged crimes against a 13-year-old intellectually disabled boy so egregious that she set a bond at 10 times the amount the state’s prosecutor requested at a hearing on Thursday against the alleged abuser.
Jennifer Elaine Foran, 39, of Pompano Beach, was arrested after an investigation in what Broward County Judge Tabitha Blackmon cited as long-term torture and abuse.
According to what Blackmon read in court, when Broward County Sheriff’s Deputies and officials from Florida Department of Children and Families arrived at the home, they found the boy tethered to a metal step stool using a cable lock used to store firearms, and he was soaked in his own urine with a blanket over his head.
Investigators also observed “linear scars” on the victim’s body allegedly inflicted by using an eyebrow razor and that blood could be seen “seeping through his shirt.”
Assistant State Attorney Mat Lopes told the judge “the allegations in this case are pretty horrific.”
He continued: “The facts state that not only did Ms. Foran tie the victim up and was whipping him, she burned his eye. There is video that shows her yelling at him and stating that he doesn’t feel pain and you can hear him on the video crying out for help and that he does feel pain.”
Foran would also allegedly chain the child to a water heater, refrigerator and other appliances, according to the report.
She faces 3 counts including aggravated child abuse, abuse of a child without great bodily harm, and a separate charge of domestic abuse stemming from Foran allegedly shooting a firearm at her husband and the father of the victim — it was not clear if the victim is also her child.
The state requested bond at $25,000 for the first two counts and $50,000 on count 3. The public defender’s office asked for $3,000 on counts 1 and 2, and $1,000 on the domestic abuse charge.
However, Blackmon, after reading aloud the complaint, emphatically stated: “I find neither of these bonds appropriate based on these allegations” and set the bond amount at $250,000 for count 1, $150,000 for count 2, and $50,000 for count 3.