An Ohio mother, Stacie Gilmore, 51, made headlines for a horrifying statement in court after being convicted of abusing her 11-year-old son. Gilmore was sentenced to three years in prison following revelations that she had restrained and physically harmed the boy.
During the trial, prosecutors detailed the abuse, explaining that Gilmore would tie up her son and hit him with various objects. “While [the child] was tied up, she would hit him with these objects, and she would abuse him,” Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Caitlyn Andrews told the court.
But it was Gilmore herself who left everyone in the courtroom stunned with her bizarre statement. Despite the evidence and multiple accounts from her son, she claimed that she had never restrained or abused him, insisting instead that she was simply “overprotective.” She also suggested her son lied to get her in trouble.
Gilmore admitted to tying a bedsheet to her leg and her son’s to keep him from wandering off, saying she would tell him, “I’m going with you.” But she denied using zip ties or any other abusive restraints. She also justified making her son sleep on the couch, claiming he had broken three beds by jumping on them.
Even as she faced sentencing, Gilmore made another shocking remark to WFMJ, expressing hope that the justice system would “be lenient” with her.
Judge Andrew Logan, visibly disturbed by her comments, told Gilmore that the abuse she inflicted was “the worst form of offense.” She was sentenced to eight months in jail, with 55 days remaining to serve, and will be on probation during which she must receive mental health treatment and have no contact with her son.
The boy has been removed from her care by the Mahoning County Children’s Services Board.
