@InOutEdition

This is Jayme Lynne Kushman, a New Mexico woman whose decade-long abuse of children in her home became one of the most disturbing child welfare cases investigators in the region had ever seen. For nearly a decade, six children between the ages of 5 and 16 lived under Kushman's roof in Texico, a small city in Curry County near the Texas border. The children included her ex-girlfriend Jamie Sena's own kids, younger relatives of Kushman, a neighboring child, and a foster child. According to the children themselves, they were routinely chained up, beaten with wooden paddles, and starved as punishment for taking food from the refrigerator. Authorities uncovered three days of security footage showing the children being starved, beaten, and chained for long periods of time. One prosecutor spent three weeks reviewing footage of an 11-year-old boy chained to a bed with only a ten-minute break to use the washroom over 14 consecutive hours, with no food or water provided. In the most disturbing clip, Kushman can be seen smashing the boy's face into his own vomit. The child is heard on video saying he had not eaten in two days. In July 2022, officers arriving at the home found sewage backed up throughout the building, the structure reeking of urine, no running water, chains attached to walls, and a padlock on at least one of the beds. Six children were removed that day. Allegations against Kushman dated back as far as 2013, and witnesses told state police investigators they believed the women had been tipped off ahead of prior child welfare visits and had time to prepare. Outcome: Jayme Kushman pleaded guilty to five counts of child abuse and was sentenced in July 2023 to 15 years in prison, the maximum allowed under her plea agreement. She must serve at least 12 years and 9 months before becoming eligible for parole. Co-defendant Jamie Sena received six years after pleading no contest to four counts. Sentencing Judge Drew Tatum, who said the case ranked among the most cruel and inhumane he had seen in 16 years on the bench, told Kushman that she had treated the child similarly to a prisoner of war and had permanently stolen his innocence.