Texas Woman Sentenced for Mistreating Special Needs Teens

RICHMOND, Texas (AP) — A 55-year-old Houston-area woman has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the mistreatment of seven special needs teenagers found in 2016 locked in a room strewn with human waste.

Paula Sinclair was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to several counts of causing serious bodily injury to a child.

Authorities say the teens, who were 14 to 16 years old when they were found in a Richmond home, were fed two daily meals of rice and beans and disciplined for things like making too much noise.

Sinclair and a former husband adopted the children in 2003 and 2004 and had been their foster parents.

Sinclair was arrested along with her husband, 79-year-old Allen Richardson, who continues to be held at the Fort Bend County jail on charges that include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.