A New Braunfels woman who fostered and adopted eight children was sentenced to 40 years in prison for causing serious bodily injury to two of them, the Comal County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement today.
Susan Rae Helton, 53, starved, beat and left the children in small triangular cages made from baby gates for up to two or three weeks at a time.
She will serve at least 20 years before she is eligible for parole. A jury found her guilty of committing first-degree felony on Jan. 28.
“Comal County jurors’ reputation is that they do the right thing and do not stand for someone abusing children, especially in the manner this woman has,” Comal County Assistant District Attorney Lauren Cole said.
Judge Stephanie Bascon of the 466th District Court and visiting Judge Don Burgess presided over the two-week trial and ordered counts one and two for one child stacked on top of counts three and four for the other child.
The statement did not provide any further details about the timeline of the trial or the investigation. However, it said the victims are now “young adults.”
Records indicate Helton was arrested in November 2018 and charged with first-degree felonies in June 2020. The final item on the docket, a proposed order, was filed Feb. 4.
New Braunfels Police Department (NBPD) and DFPS-Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) investigated a CPS referral for concerns of physical abuse and neglect of two of Helton’s adopted children.
The New Braunfels woman was a foster-care mother who over the years adopted eight children, all victims of prior child abuse or neglect.
She also once owned a licensed daycare and received training on proper food, nutrition and discipline.
A CPS caseworker was alarmed by the size and stature of two of the children, with the first victim, 14, weighing only 48 pounds and the second victim, 13, weighing only 50 pounds.
All children were forensically interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Comal County.
“Two of her children victims provided heartbreaking accounts of being starved and physically abused with a belt by Helton if they were caught ‘stealing’ food from the kitchen,” the DA said.
“They also spoke of being confined to small triangular cages during the day and one having to sleep in the cages at night to ensure that child didn’t get up and ‘steal food.'”
Other children in the home corroborated their accounts, adding the two victims targeted by Helton were sometimes forced to remain in the cages for up to two or three weeks at a time.
Helton told police they were confined in the gates because they were “sugar-seeking” and stealing food.
After the forensic interviews, CPS conducted a surprise home visit to the Helton residence. The investigator found baby gates inside the home and asked both victims, independent of each other, to assemble the gates. Both children did.
Helton demonstrated the configuration she made for the children to sleep in.
Also during the investigation law enforcement learned Helton homeschooled all the children and failed to follow up on doctors’ referrals.
Through medical records, they learned both victims gained only six pounds and grew less than three inches over a five-year period.
After the teens were removed from the home and given the proper amount of food and nourishment, they gained over eight pounds in less than a month.
The two targeted children were diagnosed with severe malnutrition and failure to thrive by medical professionals.
Dr. Shona Rabon of Dell Children’s Medical Center testified in court theirs was one of the worst cases of malnourishment she has ever seen.
During trial, one of the children testified Helton forced her to stand inside the baby gates for most of the day while doing exercises, reading or completing homework. They also ate and slept within the gates.
The other described living with Helton as “rough” and said he did many things to stay alive, according to the statement.
“He stated that he was starving and not getting enough food, and that if he was caught stealing food, Helton would beat him with a belt or place him back inside the cage. He also testified that Helton would not allow him access to the restroom.”
The children were forbidden from telling anyone what was happening in the home.
During closing arguments, Chief Civil Prosecutor Jessica Frazier asked jurors to “free them from these cages once and for all.”