Smithfield woman to serve probation for chaining up foster daughter
A Smithfield woman who pleaded guilty last week to chaining her mentally disabled adult foster daughter to bed was sentenced to nine to 18 months in jail on Monday, but immediately released for time served.
In tears, Marylou Dewitt, 54, told Fayette County President Judge Steve P. Leskinen that she hopes her foster daughter will one day forgive her.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her,” said Dewitt, who will also serve two years of probation as part of her sentence.
The sentencing came a year after, according to court documents, a teenage girl found the 22-year-old intellectually disabled woman restrained to a mattress and called the police.
Dewitt’s attorney, Shane Gannon, told the judge that Dewitt had been sick, overworked and needed to go to the hospital because she believed her husband was having a heart attack. He argued that her decision to restrain her foster child that night was a poor one made in a moment of crisis.
“There’s no excuse for what she did, but she had a mental breakdown. While that’s not an excuse, she has acknowledged it. She’s never been to jail before that night,” Gannon said.
Gannon also noted that Dewitt had previously fostered more than 10 children and provided several letters from her former foster children supporting her.
“This wasn’t a case of long-term abuse or prolonged mistreatment. It was a single, isolated incident,” Gannon said.
Leskinen acknowledged that Dewitt, who was a nurse at the time, made a poor choice.
“While the confinement she used is unacceptable, I can understand where she felt like she was at a complete loss with nothing but bad options to choose from,” the judge said.
Gannon told the judge Dewitt will lose her nursing license as a result of the conviction.
Assistant District Attorney Anthony Gentile told the judge that the victim would not make an impact statement.
“I was told the victim is afraid of the defendant and is going through intensive therapy,” Gentile said, asking Leskinen to consider jail time for Dewitt.
According to Dewitt, her foster daughter has several intellectual disabilities, including ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder, and has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old.
Dewitt said last week that the girl came to live in her home at age 17.
Leskinen praised Dewitt for her efforts in the community, her career as a nurse, and her willingness to foster the victim even after she turned 18. He also criticized Dewitt’s decision to tie up her foster daughter on May 29, 2024.
The judge asked her, “What would have happened if there had been a house fire?”