Foster Mom, Daughter Guilty

GAINESVILLE -- A mother and her adult daughter have been found guilty of mistreating foster children who told authorities they were routinely beaten, force-fed until they vomited and made to fight one another.

After almost five hours of deliberation Monday, a jury found Nellie Jasper Johnson, 60, guilty of 14 counts of aggravated child abuse, 12 counts of child abuse, three counts of tampering with a witness or victim and two counts of child neglect. Her adopted daughter, Colony Latrisa Johnson, 30, was found guilty of three counts of aggravated child abuse and three counts of child abuse. The charges involve 11 children who had been in their care.

The judge will set a sentencing date for the two women within 30 days. Sentences range from five years to 30 years.

More than 25 children, many of them brothers and sisters, had been placed with Nellie Johnson during more than a decade. Many were adopted, but after one child came forward with accusations of abuse, officials removed 17 children from Johnson's home in 2001.