Woman accused of abusing 5 adopted children to go on trial Tuesday

By: Valerie Lough, Staff Writer

A woman accused of abusing her five adopted children is scheduled to go on trial Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Vonda Ferguson, 46, is charged with 33 counts of felonious assault, child endangering, permitting child abuse and rape.

Ferguson is accused of using extreme forms of punishment on her five adopted children between 2000 and 2004, allegedly hitting them with hammers and belts until they bled. She also forced them to eat excrement and burned them with irons, prosecutors said.

Defense attorney Jim Marshall declined to comment and attorneys for the prosecution could not be reached Friday.

Ferguson’s husband, James Ferguson, was convicted last year on 26 counts of felonious assault, child endangering and permitting child abuse. He was sentenced to 65 years in prison.

Their case goes as far back as 2000, when investigators alleged that the couple started abusing five of their adopted children, who are now age 14 through 19.

The children were taken out of the home in 2004 and the couple gave up custody in 2005.

— The Ferguson children were removed from their home amid allegations of abuse.

— The Fergusons relinquished custody of their adopted children.

— James and Vonda Ferguson were indicted in Union County on 61 counts of endangering children, five counts of felonious assault and five counts of permitting child abuse. Vonda Ferguson faced an additional felonious assault charge and two counts of rape.

— In court documents, Union County prosecutors alleged the Fergusons beat their children with hammers and belts until they bled, forced them to eat excrement and duct-taped them to tables and beds.

— Vonda Ferguson was jailed pending a psychological evaluation requested by her attorney. She was released two months later.

— Union County Common Pleas Judge Richard Parrot gave the prosecution two weeks to come up with a detailed list of the allegations against James Ferguson, ruling that the charges were too vague.

— Parrot dismissed all charges against the Fergusons.

— The Fergusons were indicted by a Clark County grand jury on the same original charges. Union County officials were asked to serve as special prosecutors on the case.

— James Ferguson is convicted on 26 counts of felonious assault, child endangering and permitting child abuse and was later sentenced to 65 years in prison.