Foster Mother Gets Probation In Neglect Case

TROY—A long-time foster mother who was charged in May with endangering the welfare of her 11-year-old adopted son after the boy told police that she didn’t feed him, beat him and made him eat his own feces, has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge.

Sharmon Evans, 57, of Fourth Ave., Troy, must give up custody of the boy. Her Fourth Ave. home has been condemned.

In June, Evans refused a plea deal in which she would have served 60 days in jail and been placed on three years probation in exchange for her guilty plea to the misdemeanor child endangerment charge which carries a maximum sentence of a year in jail.  She would also have had to surrender her parental rights to the child whom she adopted when he was one year old and submit to a mental health evaluation.

Although prosecutors had sought jail time for Evans, Family Court Judge Linda Griffin said there were extenuating circumstances which warranted rehabilitation rather than jail.  The judge said the pre-sentencing probation report indicated that Evans has serious medical and mental health issues.

Evans was arrested after the boy was taken to a police station after he told a friend of the circumstances and said he was running away from home.  Police say that the boy was kept in a locked room, forced to sleep on the floor under a bed frame without blankets. Evans allegedly kept a calendar marked with what days she would feed him.

Court records show that the boy stood by the garbage cans in the school cafeteria and asked other students for their leftovers.

The boy now lives with other foster care parents and is said to be doing well.