An Army major and his wife ran a house of horrors for their foster children, allegedly breaking their bones and depriving them of food and water as a strict form of punishment, according to a federal complaint released yesterday.
John and Carolyn Jackson of Mount Holly, NJ, were charged with endangerment, assault and conspiracy in the abuse of three foster children — including one who died in 2008 — over a five-year period.
The pattern of abuse allegedly took place between 2005 and 2010. The couple also has three biological kids.
The parents told their own children to monitor the foster kids — who were later adopted — and the assaults were a cruel method of training them how to behave, according to the criminal complaint.
Two of the children were forced to eat red pepper and drink hot sauce as a form of punishment, according to the indictment. Two suffered fractured bones from alleged assaults.
The abuse took place while the family was living at Picatinny Arsenal, a military facility in Rockaway Township, prosecutors say.
“Carolyn and John Jackson are charged with unimaginable cruelty to children they were trusted to protect,” said US Attorney Paul Fishman.
“The crimes alleged should not happen to any child, anywhere, and it is deeply disturbing that they would happen on a military installation.”
The couple was not charged in the death because it was not thought to be due to abuse. But they are charged with not seeking proper medical attention.
The Jackson’s children are currently in protective custody. The couple is being detained and face a bail hearing in Newark federal court tomorrow.