'They just all seemed normal': Neighbors react to Pace woman arrested for alleged abuse

by Carolyn Cerda

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR) — A Pace woman accused of abusing her 14-year old adoptive son, remains in the Santa Rosa County Jail on a $100,000 bond. Those who lived near the 47-year-old tell Channel 3, they were unaware of what the sheriff called the "horrific” abuse, she's accused of inflicting.

"It just blew my mind to see them, that family, out of all families this neighborhood, that family, because they just all seemed normal," said neighbor, Jillian Register.

"She took adoptive children out of a home where they weren’t suitable... and she’s going to put them back in a horrible place and scarring them, said another neighbor, Cynthia Register. "It’s horrible and sad."

"As a father it pisses me off," said Santa Rose County Sheriff's Office. He detailed the disturbing claims against Hyler in a press conference Monday. "She abused this child pretty severely. She did everything including punching him, beating him with a dog chain, and going as far as chipping his teeth with plyers. I don't know how you fix something like that with a child, after you do something so horrendous to them."

The arrest report also lays out the most recent incident. Hyler is accused of using a knife to cut the boy on his head, calling him names, and stepping on his neck. Investigators say the abuse intensified two years ago, when Hyler took the kids out of school to homeschool them.

Sheriff Johnson said, "If they would have gone to school in the condition that we found them in they would have called a long time ago and she wouldn't have been able to abuse them to extent that she did. We responded out there and made contact with the kids and you could tell they were all abused. They weren't clean, the place was a wreck, it was a bad situation for all involved."

While investigators say she targeted the 14-year old boy, they believe all four of the adopted children in the home may have been abused. Investigators are even reaching out to two, older adopted children who were no longer in the home.

"Because of the egregious nature of this case we are taking this very seriously and we intend to vigorously prosecute the case," said Greg Marcille, Assistant State Attorney. "We will seek the maximum sentence in jail."

Investigators do believe they will file more charged against Hyler. But, so far, they have not charged Hyler's husband.

"We don't anticipate any charges on him," said Sheriff Johnson. "He worked a lot, he stayed gone a lot. He went to work early in the morning, came home late at night. There is no indication that he was involved in any of the abuse."

For now, all four kids are in DCF custody.

Neighbor, Cynthia Register said, "I just hope that the children get a better life. He deserves someone who loves him."