A Palmdale woman who pleaded no contest to torturing her two adopted children was sentenced Wednesday to seven years to life in prison.
Ingrid Brewer, 53, pleaded no contest Dec. 15 to a pair of torture counts involving the girl and boy, who were 7 and 8 years old, respectively, at the time of the abuse.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies found the children hiding under a blanket near a parked vehicle on a street near their home after Brewer reported them missing Jan. 15, 2013.
“Neither child had any type of winter clothing on, despite temperatures in the mid-20s,” sheriff’s Deputy Mark Pope said at the time.
The children told deputies that they had run away because “they were tired of being tied up and beaten,” Pope said.
Investigators said the woman beat the two with electrical cords and tied their hands behind their backs.
Brewer also deprived them of food and access to the bathroom, forcing them to use wastebaskets in their rooms to relieve themselves, authorities said.
“It’s a sad case and these poor children suffered serious injuries that children their age should never have to be exposed to,” said Deputy District Attorney Theodore Swanson, who noted that the children are now with a foster parent and are “doing well.”
Brewer has been jailed in lieu of $2 million bail since her Jan. 16, 2013, arrest.
— City News Service