FOSTER MUM MADE BOYS EAT VOMIT
Woman, 72, gets 14 months for torturing kids in reign of terror
A FOSTER mother tortured kids in her care by forcing them to eat vomit.
Rachel Lessels sobbed yesterday as she was jailed for 14 months after a jury found her guilty of sustained cruelty against children for more than three years.
Sheriff Paul Brown said: “These are grave offences against defenceless children who were in your care.
“You were in a position of trust with professional responsibility over your victims. This was over a prolonged period and there were multiple incidents of serious cruelty.
“I note the harm caused to both witnesses, and from their evidence it was clear they are still emotionally impacted by your offending. There is no alternative to prison.”
Lessels was found guilty of five charges after the jury at Dundee Sheriff Court heard her victims’ harrowing accounts.
One boy, now 18, told jurors during the three-day trial: “I was eating a bowl of porridge. I threw it back up into the bowl. I don’t know why I threw it up but Rachel told me I had to eat it.
“I was crying and then Rachel took out this leaflet saying the social work would take me away if I didn’t eat it.”
When Marie Lyons, prosecuting, asked the witness why he had gone through with it, he replied: “I was scared.”
The boy, who was staying at Lessels’ home in Cupar, Fife, said he had also been forced to watch as another boy was attacked by her.
He said: “I remember one time she dug her nails into his skin and ear. She had really long, pointy nails.”
One child had their head forced under water in a bath and held by 72-year-old Lessels. He described the incident as “absolutely terrifying.”
The incidents came to light after one of the three children affected told a school psychologist.
Lessels was found guilty of wilfully ill-treating a boy on various occasions by shouting at him and forcing him to stand for long periods.
She was convicted of attacking the same boy by force-feeding him vomit with a fork.
The jury also found her guilty of force-feeding vomit to a second boy. She made him stand for long periods and acted aggressively towards him. She was found guilty of attacking the same boy by seizing his neck and arms.
Lessels was also found guilty of cruelty towards his brother by forcing him to stand for long periods.
The court was told that Lessels had been a foster carer to more than 50 children from the mid-2000s to 2017 when the allegations were first reported.
She said the victims were difficult and had made up the claims but the jury rejected her version of events.
There were multiple incidents. There is no alternative to custody SHERIFF PAUL BROWN ADDRESSING LESSELS