Inset: Kristy Cooley (Gwinnett County Sheriff”s Office). Background: The Lilburn, Georgia, home where Cooley abused her middle child (WAGA).
A Georgia mother convicted of abusing her daughter is set to spend decades behind bars.
Kristy Cooley was sentenced Friday to 80 years in prison after a jury convicted her of two counts of aggravated battery, eight counts of cruelty to children, and two counts of tampering with evidence. In courtroom reporting by Atlanta Fox affiliate WAGA, prosecutors described years of abuse against Cooley’s 9-year-old daughter as “child torture.” A teacher noticed signs of abuse during a mandatory check-in and contacted police.
Prosecutors told WAGA that doctors testified Cooley subjected her daughter to physical and psychological abuse, along with medical neglect. Cameras placed throughout Cooley’s Lilburn, Georgia, home allowed her to monitor the child, prosecutors said, so she could punish her whenever the girl’s behavior failed to meet her standards.
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Cooley allegedly locked her daughter in her bedroom for days and withheld food. The child was forced to use a bucket as a toilet and sometimes sneaked out of the room in search of something to eat. When Cooley caught her taking food, prosecutors said, she beat the girl with a pipe and sticks. She also burned her daughter, causing the child to lose consciousness.
Prosecutors said photographs recovered from Cooley’s phone showed the girl with a black eye when she was 5 or 6 years old. The child was Cooley’s middle daughter and, according to prosecutors, the only one subjected to the abuse.
WAGA reported that the Division of Family & Children Services was first alerted to conditions in Cooley’s home when the girl was a toddler. Prosecutors said the agency did not follow up.
The girl’s stepfather was also charged in connection with the abuse, WAGA reported, but he died before his case went to trial.
Although the judge imposed an 80-year sentence, Cooley will be required to serve 40 years in prison.
