Woman let her preteen be raped to feed addiction
CINCINNATI — “I can honestly say that, in 3½ years on the bench, this is by far the worst thing that has come before this court.”
So said Judge Leslie Ghiz of the Hamilton County Pleas Court as she sentenced April Corcoran to 51 years in prison.
Corcoran, 32, pleaded guilty in June to raising money to feed her heroin addiction by loaning out her 11-year-old daughter to her drug dealer, who, with the mother’s blessing, raped and abused her, sometimes videotaping it.
This preteen was being forced to have vaginal, anal and oral sex with a 40-year-old man, according to the indictment against her mother. Corcoran pleaded guilty to multiple counts of complicity to rape, human trafficking and child endangerment.
The alleged dealer, Shandell Willingham, was also charged and is awaiting a hearing.
Corcoran had a special routine after her daughter was brutalized by her drug dealer. As a “reward,” she gave her daughter heroin, the court was told. The middle schooler vomited each time.
This happened at least four times between February and June 2014. Corcoran still hasn’t apologized to her daughter, the judge said in court Tuesday.
Now 13, the girl is living out of state with her father and stepmother. She is taking medication, has had suicidal thoughts and is undergoing medical care, Ghiz said.
“I saw my granddaughter. I heard her small voice,” the girl’s grandmother said in court. “It was horrific. How could (Corcoran) do this? I don’t know if my granddaughter is going to be able to have a normal life.”
Authorities learned of the case in June 2014 when the girl moved in with her father, who reported it.
The young child’s plight did not shock locals in the rural area of Ohio where Corcoran lived.
“I mean, things like this happen a lot down here,” Keith Benson said. “Probably not to this degree, but there’s constantly being reports of animal abuse and fights breaking out around. It’s a little bit surprising, but not entirely unexpected.”
At the time of the indictment, Hamilton County prosecutor Joseph Deters said: “As a parent, it is hard to imagine how you could use your child to satisfy your drug addiction.”