The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
North Ridgeville woman gets 26 years for ‘torture’
James “Jamie” Collins stared at Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James L. Miraldi with her mouth open as he sentenced her Dec. 13 to 26 years in prison for “torturing” a 3-year-old girl.
Collins, 35, of North Ridgeville, was sentenced on multiple counts of felonious assault, endangering children and domestic violence for the six months of physical abuse that she levied against the child in 2016.
Collins pleaded guilty Oct. 22.
Michael D. Doyle, Collins’ attorney, urged the court to give her community control.
“She’s done very well since you let her out of jail,” he said. “She’s completed several programs and counseling. She’s taken responsibility and is remorseful.”
In her own statement to the court, Collins repeatedly apologized.
“I’m so sorry for us having to be here today,” she said. “I cannot express how deeply I’m sorry for everyone involved. Nothing will be the same for anyone. All of our lives have been ruined.
“I’m doing my best to be better and do better. I’ve never done anything in my life.”
Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Donna Freeman painted a different picture of Collins.
Collins mercilessly tortured the girl over a period of six months punching her in the face repeatedly, breaking her nose then twisting it which has left her permanently disfigured, breaking her right arm, pulling out large clumps of hair from the girl’s skull as well as repeatedly holding the girl’s head underwater while in the bath, Freeman said.
As Freeman named off each act Collins committed, Collins shook her head.
Halfway through the soliloquy, a member of Collins’ family angry stormed out of the courtroom.
Freeman said the victim still is feeling the effects of the torture.
“She still has nightmares and night terrors because of what this woman did to her,” the prosecutor said.
Freeman said Collins not only abused the victim, but forced the other two children who lived in the house to help in the abuse and punished them when they tried to help the victims.
These children, who were 9 and 11 years old at the time, were scheduled to testify against Collins in the bench trial she avoided by pleading guilty.
The abuse only came to light Sept. 26 when Collins took the victim to the hospital for the broken arm.
At that time, the victim had different colored bruises, a broken nose, was missing large clumps of hair from her head.
Hospital staff said the girl looked malnourished, Freeman said.
Collins’ story stayed consistent throughout the investigation: she claimed the injuries were self-inflicted, the prosecutor said.
This story was repeated by Collins’ boyfriend, who is facing a charge of felonious assault, two counts of endangering children and a single count of domestic violence.
A trial date has not been scheduled.
Freeman said it was “almost by the grace of God” that the victim’s arm was broken because that led to the child’s removal from the home.
“The state believes she would have succeeded in killing this child,” the prosecutor said.
This was not the case of a parent or guardian snapping and assaulting a child, but that Collins tortured and tried to kill the victim for no apparent reason, Freeman said.
“Judge, we are the voice for this little girl,” she said. “She can’t come in here and tell you this herself, so we’re her voice. But I guarantee if she could, she’d tell you how badly this woman hurt her, how badly she scared her, how bad she terrorized her on a daily basis.”
Rachel Cambrere, a Lorain County Children Services agent who handled the case, said this is the worst case she has covered in her 14 years with the agency, and in over 20 years of field work.
Cambrere said Collins has never taken responsibilities and shown remorse for the abuse.
“She continues to paint herself as a savior both for (the juvenile witnesses) and (the victim),” Cambrere said.
“From the time we initiated this case over two years ago, she painted a picture that she was trying to save (the victim) from doing all these injuries to herself.”
The victim’s maternal grandfather also addressed the court describing he and his wife’s experiences since taking the victim and how Collins attempted to keep them from seeing her while the abuse was ongoing.
He said the pictures of his granddaughter in the hospital made him think of one thing.
“The only time I’ve seen pictures of children that way was at the Holocaust in Germany,” he said. “You could have taken that picture in black and white and put that picture in with concentration camp little kids and you would not have been able to pick her apart from those little kids.
“That’s how bad the abuse was.”
The victim’s mother also addressed the court asking Miraldi to ensure Collins stays in prison until the victim and the two child witnesses are adults.
“I humbly request, your honor, that you show just as much mercy to the defendant that she chose to show to an innocent toddler: absolutely none,” she said. “And may the full extent of the law prevail.”
Before pronouncing the sentence, Miraldi spoke about how when judges are tasked with imposing a prison term they are required to look at sentences handed down in similar cases, but neither he, the prosecutor’s office or the defense counsel could find a case like this one.
“The description provided by the state is hard to rebut by the physical evidence in the case,” he said. “The picture that the court has of what happened with this child is no different than had this child been tortured and that’s how the court summarizes the experiences this child went through.
“When you have a 3-yearold child who is the victim, one can not comprehend anyone who is more vulnerable and in need of protection and the law must send a message to others who might consider behaving similarly.”