"Jane Doe" - 8 yo/ Accused: Grandmother Veletta Edwards - Clinton (E of Fayetteville) NC

Grandmother accused of torturing, starving 8-year-old

CLINTON - A Clinton woman is accused of beating, torturing and starving her 8-year-old granddaughter over a prolonged period, leaving the child's body covered with scars and untreated, infected burns.

Veletta Wilkins Edwards, 55, of the 100 block of Seven Eagles Lane, was charged Wednesday with child abuse and other crimes, said Capt. Eric Pope of the Sampson County Sheriff's office. He said she allegedly often punished the girl by locking her in a room for days at a time without food or a bed, and only a bucket to use as a toilet.

The charges say Edwards used tools to injure the girl, though investigators would not elaborate.

Edwards also would force the girl to sit in scalding water as punishment, Pope said.

Authorities wouldn't say why the girl was being punished, though her 9-year-old sister, who also was in Edwards'
care, apparently had sustained no injuries after more than a year of living with Edwards, he said.

"We are not aware of any injuries. We think that most of the abuse was focused on the 8-year-old," Pope said. "A characteristic of some child abuse cases is that the abuse is focused towards a particular child. Why it happens like that, I could not begin to explain."

The girls lived with Edwards on a rural dead-end road about a mile south of Clinton, off U.S. 421, and the abuse against the younger child went unnoticed as long as it did because they were both home-schooled by Edwards, Pope said.

The blue-gray mobile home sits on a small lot along a dirt road. With its blinds closed, the only personal touch visible from the outside is a faded sign next to the front door that reads: "Christ Project."

Neighbors say Edwards portrayed herself as a religious leader.

Next-door neighbor Juanita Jacobs, 54, said she knows Edwards as a religious woman who lives with her husband - a man in his 30s - in addition to the grandchildren. Sometimes she hears loud music coming from the home early in the mornings, but she didn't know anything about any abuse, she said.

"She never bothered me. As a neighbor, I didn't see nothing wrong with her," Jacobs said. "I never seen nothing out of shape about it - nothing except their white uniforms. They just wore white all the time. He told me it was because they were apostles or prophets of God."

Edwards' Facebook account is named "Apostle Veletta Wilkins-Edwards," and in one posting, dated Nov. 28, she writes about the need to return to the teachings of Jesus.

"We are failing the people because we have abandoned the Lord and raised ourselves up as objects to be glorified instead of lifting up the name of the Lord," she wrote.

A bearded man who was at Edwards' home Thursday afternoon, dressed fully in bright white with a large golden cross around his neck, said he was in the process of hiring a lawyer. He wouldn't comment on the matter, including
whether the family disputed the allegations.

"I have nothing to say right now," he said.

According to the Sheriff's Office, authorities began investigating what was happening at the home Dec. 29, when a concerned family member called the Sampson County Department of Social Services. The agency went to the home and discovered scars over most of the 8-year-old's body, as well as burns that had been untreated and were infected, Pope said.

Social Services removed both children from the home, and police began an investigation, interviewing the children and verifying their stories, he said. Both children had been in their grandmother's custody for about a year and a half, he said. It wasn't clear where their parents are.

Both children were taken to Sampson Regional Medical Center for evaluation, Pope said. They have since been placed into foster care, with the 8-year-old receiving medical and psychological treatment.

Pope said she has been resilient through the process. "For what she has been through, her personality is just amazing," Pope said. "She's a very loving child."

Sarah Bradshaw, director of Sampson County DSS, said she could not comment on the case, including whether there had been previous reports of abuse or educational problems.

Edwards was arrested Wednesday and charged with child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury, contributing to the
delinquency of a minor, and other offenses. Her bail was set at $410,000.

Pope would not comment on whether anyone else would be charged.

Staff writer James Halpin can be contacted at halpinj@fayobserver.com or 486-3509. Staff writer Nancy McCleary can be contacted at mcclearyn@fayobserver.com or 486-3568.