NH Mom Gets Prison for Abusing Daughter - Updated

(Nashua, New Hampshire) Yesterday in Hillsborough County Superior Court, 37-year-old Theresa Bergeron pleaded guilty to child abuse and falsifying evidence in a deal with the prosecution which allows her to avoid a trial.

Bergeron admitted to various abuse charges committed against her 12-year-old daughter plus charges she impeded a police investigation. Consequently, she was sentenced to prison.

During the 2- to 10-year concurrent prison sentence for the five separate abuse crimes, Bergeron will not be allowed contact with her daughter. For falsifying evidence during a police investigation of the abuse, Bergeron received a suspended 3½- to 7-year sentence in return for good behavior.

Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Groff said he wanted to impose a longer sentence. Yet he added that the deal Bergeron struck will spare the girl further pain and allow her to rebuild her life.

It's notable that this was Bergeron's second plea deal in the case. The first was scrapped after she was found to have violated bail conditions. It's also notable that Bergeron has a previous conviction for felony child abuse for shaking another daughter in the early-1990s and inflicting permanent brain damage. For the earlier conviction, Bergeron was given a suspended sentence and counseling. I'd suggest that the counseling was a waste of time.

Regarding Bergeron's housemate and girlfriend Chrisias France, she awaits trial for failing to report abuse, hindering prosecution of the Bergeron and felony endangering the welfare of a child.



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Mom Accused of Abusing Daughter, 10
[Previous 6/25/07 post]
(Nashua, New Hampshire) In December 2006, 35-year-old local mother Theresa Bergeron was arrested and charged with second-degree assault for abusing her 10-year-old daughter.

School officials noticed the girl was bruised, limping and falling asleep in class. As a consequence, they started asking questions.

The girl first told a teacher's assistant at the school, and later an investigator, that her mother had made her stand in one spot in her home from 3 p.m. the previous day until 8 that morning, and had sprayed her with water bottle throughout the night keep her awake, according to court documents. The girl told investigators that the standing was punishment for passing gas, and that she was required to write a sentence over and over on 24 pages while standing.

The girl also told investigators that her mother locked her in her bedroom at night without access to a bathroom and that she was forced to urinate in a heating vent. The girl's fourth-grade teacher told investigators that the girl came to school with a sign on her backpack that said, "I wear diapers," explaining that her mother made her wear a diaper that day after locking her in her room without bathroom access, court records stated.

Bergeron was booked and released on bail. The daughter was removed from the home by child protective services.

In the latest development, Bergeron's significant other, 44-year-old Chrisias France, has been charged with failing to report abuse, hindering prosecution of the girl's mother and felony endangering the welfare of a child. Authorities believe that France took part in the abuse and helped cover up Bergeron's actions.

France is scheduled to be arraigned on July 5th in Hillsborough County Superior Court.


[Update 6/24/08]

Bergeron's bail has been revoked and she was sent to jail to await trial.

Bergeron had been free on $10,000 bail since her arrest in 2006, but Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge William Groff found Bergeron had violated the conditions of her release by continuing to live with her partner and co-defendant, Chrisias France, after she was ordered to have no contact last year.

"There is no question she was advised of this condition. There's no question of the importance of this condition," Groff said. "She knew about these conditions, and she just disregarded them."

The prosecutor, Assistant County Attorney Paula Philbrook, argued that Bergeron poses a potential threat to any child, citing a 1996 felony child abuse conviction in Massachusetts involving a different child.

No date indicated for Bergeron's trial. France is scheduled for trial next month.