Couple That Abused Adopted Kids To Be Resentenced In Morris Co.

Carolyn and John Jackson were convicted in 2015 on multiple counts of child endangerment in the abuse of their adopted children.

Vianella Burns,Patch Staff

MORRIS COUNTY, NJ — A former Army Major and his wife, who were previously convicted in a child abuse case, have been granted a third appeal and will be resentenced before a different district court judge, according to US Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

In 2021, John E. Jackson and Carolyn Jackson received their third sentences for their roles in abusing and neglecting adopted children over a five-year period.

According to authorities, Carolyn received a 40-month prison sentence, and her husband was given an 18-month home confinement sentence.

Sellinger said the two were first convicted in 2015 on multiple counts of child endangerment in the abuse of their adopted children.

After being found guilty of numerous offenses, including breaking bones and denying medical attention to adopted children under the age of four while living at the Picatinny Arsenal Installation in Morris County between 2005 and 2010, Jackson received 24 months in prison and John received probation plus 400 hours of community service.

The prosecution initially sought sentences of 19 and 15 years for Carolyn and John Jackson, respectively, United States Attorney Paul Fishman previously said.

In 2017, the government filed the first appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which found procedural errors and ordered a resentencing.

During the 2018 resentencing, Carolyn received a 40-month sentence, while John received the same sentence, which included probation and community service.

Prosecutors said the sentences were appealed a second time because of procedural errors.

Jackson received the same 40-month sentence at her third sentencing hearing in October 2021, while John received an 18-month home confinement sentence.

The government filed a third appeal against those sentences.

Prosecutors said the U.S. Court of Appeals ordered another resentencing because the district court failed to consider the children's multiple injuries "holistically and in the context of the jury's findings of guilt" in determining causation.

According to an indictment from 2013, the couple took in two foster children in June 2008 while living at the Picatinny Arsenal. They had taken in another foster child three years prior and eventually legally adopted all three of them, according to documents.

The Jacksons told their biological children not to report the physical assaults to others from August 2005 to April 23, 2010, claiming that the punishments and disciplinary techniques were justified because they were "training" the adopted children how to behave.

In the 17-count indictment, authorities alleged that the Jacksons physically assaulted their adopted children with various objects, causing two children to sustain fractured bones. The couple also withheld sufficient nourishment and food from their adopted children, withheld adequate water from two of their children, and, at times, prohibited them from drinking water altogether.

It is alleged that the Jacksons even hit one adopted child, who had to resort to sneaking food and drinking from the toilet and forced the child to ingest hot sauce and eat a raw onion like an apple.

Resentencing will take place at a later date, which has yet to be determined.