Morris couple convicted of child abuse to be resentenced again after ruling

NICHOLAS KATZBAN   Morristown Daily Record

A Morris County couple convicted of multiple abuses against their adopted children have had their sentences overruled for the third time by federal appellate judges who found that the lower court had mishandled prior proceedings.

After the latest appeal by U.S. attorneys, who once again challenged the penalties leveled against Carolyn and John Jackson for the pair's 2015 child abuse convictions, a 3rd Circuit panel determined that the sentencing judge failed to consider the children's injuries, and it vacated the couple's penalties in total.

Although a date has not yet been determined, the appellate judges ordered the new sentences to be decided by a new judge, who would not be prejudiced by previous interpretations of the evidence.

Carolyn and John Jackson were arrested in 2013 when one of their biological children reported a pattern of brutality and torment inflicted on their adopted siblings, all of whom were less than 4 years old and developmentally delayed.

Nevertheless, the Jacksons defended their actions, saying they were training the children in how to behave, authorities said at the time.

Prosecutors accused the couple of fracturing the children's bones, depriving them of water after inducing dehydration with salty foods, forcing the kids to drink hot sauce and starving them.

In another example, the Jacksons punished one of their children after seeing the victim drink out of the toilet in desperation, attorneys said.

Carolyn initially received two years in prison, and her husband, John — a former U.S. Army major at the Picatinny Arsenal installation in Wharton — received probation, along with 400 hours of community service.

Federal prosecutors challenged those decisions, leading the the appellate court to determine — for the first time but not the last — that the judge botched the sentencing procedure.

They were referred back to district court for new sentences, and both defendants were slapped with three years and four months in prison. Carolyn was given credit for time served.

Upon a second challenge from the government, appellate judges once again found failure in the proceedings, effectively repealing Carolyn's sentence with a ruling of time served and relegating John to home confinement for a year and a half.