Child was forced to suck insulation in walls to try and get water while parents starved and tortured them in house of horrors

A Kentucky couple is facing 20 years behind bars after starving and torturing children in their ‘house of horrors’.

Jerome Norman and Mary Hall, both 44, were indicted in March on three counts of first-degree felonies.

Hall had custody of her sister’s children after she died in a car crash in 2018, and their father was later convicted of manslaughter in the crash and imprisoned. WYMT reported.

The couple moved to Pike County with the children in 2023, and prosecutors said the abuse began.

Kimper Elementary School staff noticed bruises and unusual signs of hunger on a child.

Concerns turned into a formal complaint after the student returned from a long absence after the winter storm of 2025, malnourished, bruised and with broken teeth.

An investigation followed and police said the children were locked in a room with boarded-up windows, comparing the situation to torture.

Mary Hall takes blind plea deal with Alford in connection with first-degree criminal child abuse

Jerome Norman also joined the defense. Both are currently in jail

Children were starved, punished, and forced to do hard labor; According to police, a child appears to be the victim of the worst abuse.

‘He sucked the insulation out of the walls to get water,’ said Amber Hunt, who was appointed as guardian.

Prosecutors said the children were forced to lie to their peers, with the most abused child not allowed to participate in school activities.

The couple entered Alford’s blind defense to the charges; This meant that they did not admit guilt but acknowledged that the evidence could possibly lead to a conviction at trial.

As part of the plea agreement, two charges were reduced to lesser crimes. The judge sentenced Hall and Norman to a total of 20 years in prison, including time served.

They must serve 85 percent of their sentence before being eligible for parole. Appalachian News-Express.

Norman in a Facebook post from Kentucky State Police in 2025

While in court, Norman moved with Hall to Pikeman County in 2023, where she noticed patterns of school hazing.

Hall is in court during Friday’s sentencing

Pike County State’s Attorney Bill Slone said he was pleased with the sentence the couple received

Aerial view of Pikeville, Kentucky

The couple’s lawyers asked for leniency, but Prosecutor Bill Slone said they made a profit by getting the maximum sentence.

‘And he sentenced me to 20 years in prison. We’re happy with that,” Slone said.

‘Our laws do not allow cruel and unusual punishment even to prisoners. So they will never be subjected to the punishment that they subjected those children to,” he told WYMT.